1 5 59-1 C) 20. '^^ 



TK^CK 



OF THE 



HIDDEN CHURCH; 



OR, THE 



SPRINGS OF THE PILGRIM MOVEMENT 



BY 

JOHN WADDINGTON, D. D. 

PASTOE OF THE CHURCH OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS, SOUTHWARK, ENG. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

BY 

EEV. E. N. KIRK, D. D. 



BOSTON: 
CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
13 Cok:nhill. 






Entered accordinf;^ to Act of Congress in the year 1863, by 

The Congregational Board of Publication, 
in tlic Clerk's Ofiice of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



l7 



d-'. 



o&^^ 



CAMBRIDGE : ALLEN AND FARNHAM. 



PREFACE. 



On the eve of my departure from America, the 
request was made, at a meeting held in Mount 
Vernon Chapel, Boston, that immediately after 
my return to my native land, I should put in some 
connected form the facts which I had communi- 
cated to large assemblies in the course of my tour 
through the Northern States and in Canada. 

Suggestions of the kind made previously by 
friends, in whose judgment I had confidence, pre- 
pared me to yield obedience to this valedictory 
injunction. The result is in this Memorial vol- 
ume. I cannot promise myself that it will meet 
the expectation of the beloved and honored breth- 
ren who imposed the duty upon me, but they will 
accept it as the simple tribute of grateful attach- 
ment. 

Very pleasant and refreshing are my recollec- 

( iii ) 



IV PREFACE. 

tions of New England, and of New England 
families in other States. 

Every day my thoughts revert to them with an 
interest which a stranger cannot understand. If 
the story of our martyrs, in relation to that of the 
Pilgrims, should gain the attention of the young 
people of America, and tend to inspire new devot- 
edness in the cause of truth and freedom, my 
satisfaction in the visit will be complete. 

My aim has been to give the heart-life of these 
ancient worthies, — and to allow them to tell their 
own experience. 

Ecclesiastical history is usually written after 
the model of the Book of Kings. We want rather 
a narrative more like the the Acts of the Apostles. 
On a careful consideration of the facts contained in 
this historical sketch, it will be seen that the Pilgrim 
Fathers were neither Brownists nor Puritans, 
properly so called. Discrimination on this point 
would prevent much misdirected reproach, and 
render needless apologies that are offered for acts 
committed by a different order of men. 

It has strangely happened that writers in Eng- 
land, most conversant with outside particulars of 



PREFACE. V 

Pilgrim history, have shown the least acquaintance 
with their principles and spirit. They have grati- 
fied an antiquarian curiosity at the expense of the 
men of whom the world was not worthy. The 
best vindication of their fame is to spend some 
time, so far as it is possible, in their company, — 
reading their letters, or listening to their conversa- 
tion. 

Many who read these pages will be solicitous to 
know something of the prospects of the Memorial 
Church. It is already known that the church 
formed by Henry Jacob, in 1616, continues in 
existence. A few years ago the place of worship, 
occupied by the society, was lost to it from the 
lapse of the lease. The church, without a perma- 
nent home, amidst the dissipating influences of 
London, was in great danger of becoming extinct. 
The Hon. Abbott Lawrence enjoined the pastor 
to stand by the flock, in the assurance that the 
descendants of the Pilgrims in America would 
strengthen his hands to erect a Memorial Church 
in commemoration of the Pilgrims. For three 
years after vacating their home, the church could 
obtain no site on which to build. Their object 



VI PREFACE. 

was discouraged and opposed. It would require 
a separate volume to recount their trials and diffi- 
culties. Last year I ventured across the Atlantic 
to tell the circumstances of the case. The finan- 
cial success of the visit was not sufficient to war- 
rant us to attempt the completion of the building ; 
but it enabled us to meet the claims of the builder, 
the architect, and solicitor for the erection of a 
portion of the structure, a part of which is occupied 
for public worship by the church, and another part 
as a school-room. It will interest our friends to 
know that, to the extent of our accommodation, the 
congregation has increased. Necessarily, however, 
without further enlargement, its resources would 
be inadequate to sustain Christian ordinances in 
their efficiency. It must not be concealed, there- 
fore, that, so far as the Memorial character of the 
object is concerned, there is still some hazard. 
For the present, the preservation of the design is 
rather dependent on individual firmness, than on 
public enthusiasm in England. 

The extreme pressure on the pastor at one time 
existing is now removed. There are a " few noble " 
in the old country who are ready to cooperate. 



PREFACE. VU 

To onr regret, the Ex-Lord Mayor of London is 
prevented from taking part in the work by severe 
and protracted indisposition. The Chamberlain 
of the city of London is our friend. Mr. Apsley 
Pellatt has rendered valuable service with Mr. 
John Olney, — and no one has evinced a more con- 
stant and steady regard for the interests of the 
church, than Mr. W. Armitage of Manchester. 

There is ground, therefore, for encouragement 
and for renewed effort. It would gratify my own 
feelings much to inscribe here the names of our 
friends in America, but the list is with Mr. James 
Lawrence of Boston and Mr. W. G. Lambert of 
New York. Let us try again, — and if we live to 
see the completion of the Memorial building in 
Southwark, I will prepare a sketch of the history 
of the church, giving, in an appendix, the names 
of those who have taken part in its erection. 

J. W. 

4 Surrey Square, Old Kent Road, ) 
London, May 16, 1860. ) 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, xi 

L Conformity and its Enforcement, ... 1 

II. The Separatist First Printer, .... 26 

III. The Puritans and Separatists, .... 45 

IV. Separatist Principles from the Prisons, . . 51 
V. Election of Church Officers, .... 70 

VI. Arrested Church Members. — Barrowe's Letters, 75 

VII. Penry, the Pilgrim Martyr, .... 98 

VIII. First Plans for migrating to New England, . 109 

IX. More Imprisonments. — Francis Johnson, . . 116 

X. The Second Separation. — Brewster and the 

Church at Scrooby Manor, . . . .133 

XI. Persecutions. — Mrs. Churchman, . . . 147 

XII. Difficulties in reaching Holland, . . .155 

XIII. Pilgrim Life in Amsterdam, .... 160 

XIV. The Pilgrim Pastor in Leyden, . . . .166 

( ix ) 



X CONTENTS. 

XV. Second Pilgrim Church. — Henry Jacob, . 179 

XVI. Discussions on leaving Holland, . . . 193 

XVII. Xegotiations and Conclusions concerning 

Virginia, ........ 201 

XVIII. Breaver and Brewster the Broavnist Printers, 210 

XIX. CusHMANS Negotiations. — The Mayflower, 228 

XX. The Debarkation from Leyden, . . . 240 

XXI. The Voyage and the Landing, . . . 251 

IXDEX, 301 



liSTUODUCTION. 



The declaration of independence by the North Amer- 
ican Congress was an act purely political. It had more 
reference to the stolid British administration than to the 
noble race from which we sprang. Accordingly, from the 
day the government of the two countries luul become two, 
the people have been becoming more thoroughly one. 
And this union, strengthened by very various influences, 
has now become so tirm, that neither the war of 1812, 
nor the base cupidity of British merchants and ship- 
builders, nor the intrigues of a republic-hating, slavery- 
loving aristocracy in 18 Go, can destroy it. 

Whatever course the present generation of Britons 
may pursue, the old British heir-loom, the old British 
history, will still be ours. AVe have never lost our 
rights in the ancient family possessions. And, if the 
day should ever arrive when the people of this country 
lose their interest in that history, it will be a day of 
degeneracy, and not of progress. 

We are mainly Britons in origin. In the character, 
the limguage, the religion, the literature, and 'the char- 

(xi) 



XU INTRODUCTION. 

acteristic institutions of our country, it is neither the 
Indian, the Gaul, the German, nor the Hollander, whose 
impress we behold. Our whole poHtical, literary, social, 
and religious history finds its origin and its type in Brit- 
ish history and character. 

To what section, then, of British history, and to what 
class of the English race, does the Republic of North 
America owe most of its peculiar character and its dis- 
tmguishing political and religious institutions ? We reply 
without hesitation ; to the men who, under the Tudors 
and Stuarts, separated themselves most fully from the 
church established by law in Great Britain. And it is 
equally evident that our mdebtedness becomes the more 
complete the further we advance from the class of sim- 
ple Protestants within that church, up through the par- 
tially reformed Puritan ranks, to the Independents, who 
most profoundly examined the whole subject of church 
government, and the relations of the church to the 
State. The principles that for more than eighty years 
have been applied to human society on this vast conti- 
nent, from the lakes to the gulf, from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, by thirty millions of people, were mainly 
wrought out by a little, despised band in England, three 
hundred years ago. And yet, strenuous efforts have 
recently been made to diminish our interest in these men, 
to deny to them the glory of having introduced into 
our national character some of its best qualities. 

It has been affirmed, also, that there is room for seri- 
ous doubt " whether the colonization of any portion of 
our land originated in religious persecution ; or, chiefly 



. INTRODUCTION. XIU 

in schemes for the pursuit of gain, with the desire of the 
undisputed right to maintain peculiar religious dogmas 
and politics, without any contradiction." It has been 
said, that " the Pilgrim Fathers thought only of liberty for 
themselves, not for humanity," and that, " but for Roger 
Williams, this Union never could have existed to the 
present day." * It has been said that they left us an 
example of much that should be shunned. 

Even were it the case that all these affirmations repre- 
sented the reality of things, our interest in British history, 
and especially in the history of " Dissent," would still 
be very great. 

This nation's roots were planted at Jamestown, New 
Amsterdam, and Plymouth. Only three of the many 
colonies established within the limits of the present United 
States were permanent and influential. But when we 
contrast the training of the Pilgrims with that of the 
Cavaliers, or of the Dutch adventurers ; when we con- 
trast their purposes in coming to these shores ; the re- 
spective organization of each company ; the characters of 
the men ; their antecedent history ; their course here ; 
and their actual influence, — there remains no room to 
doubt that the character of this Republic owes more to 
the Pilgrims of Leyden and Plymouth than to any others 
of our ancestors. 

What does history know of the colonists of James- 
town or New Amsterdam, as a body, before their settle- 
ment here? Nay, what did they know of each other? 

* Newspaper report of Dr. Wayland's Speech on Roger Williams. 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

The Plymouth colony was a unit. It was a living organ- 
ism, born from heaven, nurtured in the sternest school 
of suffering, led by the God of . Israel through a desert, 
out of the house of bondage, into this its promised land. 
The Pilgrims were men raised up for a peculiar and 
a great end, and peculiarly trained for it by that mighty 
hand which always shapes its OAvn instruments, and tem- 
pers its best in the hottest fires. 

The Pilgrims were students of the best writing:s of 
antiquity. They culled from all the treasures of litera- 
ture the principles most serviceable to human society, 
that they might embody them in living institutions. 

They accepted the doctrine that governments were 
made for the people ; and in this wilderness they estab- 
lished the principle that the majority must govern in all 
common interests, civil or ecclesiastical. They believed 
that the education of the laborer was the duty of society. 
They founded a society which recognized the legal equal- 
ity of all men. They established the principle that only 
regenerated men ought to enter the church and its min- 
istry, and that credible evidence of a new heart should 
be required of all applying for admission to either. 

It is not claimed for them that they were never antici- 
pated in any of these views. All here affirmed is, that 
some of the most important ecclesiastical principles were 
discovered by themselves; that they first incorporated 
others before discovered, and at immense sacrifice, into 
living institutions ; and that their predecessors in thought 
or action were the noblest specimens of the race. 

It was their peculiarity to have recognized that the 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

church ha<l in their day reached its maturity, and was 
no longer to be held " under tutors and governors." 
They denied not the good tliere once was in Judaism, 
Romanism, Prelacy, and Semi-prelacy. But all that was 
good and peculiar in them was adapted to the state of 
pupilage in the church. It was equally so with human 
society ; at least, ^English society, in regard to monarchy, 
feudal sovereignty, and aristocratic institutions. These 
they set aside, as a man full-grown puts away cliildish 
things. They, in a word, only carried out the Reforma- 
tion some steps further than the German and French 
reformers. 

Could the writer, we have quoted, have been serious 
when he expressed a doubt whether Brewster and Car- 
ver really came to this new world as commercial adven- 
turers, or as religious exiles seeking a sanctuary for the 
pure worship of God ? 

Is it not possible for these men of God to find rest, 
even in their graves, from such injuvStice? If we had 
no other testimony than that furnished by their own 
writings, prepared under circumstances which preclude 
the admissibleness of the idea that they had any supreme 
reference to colonizing a country, establishing a civil gov- 
ernment, or making an increase of their worldly wealth, 
we should reject this theory. With their own writings 
in our hand we must believe that the secession from the 
church of England, and the voluntary expatriation of the 
men who founded the colony of Plymouth, were as purely 
conscientious and reUgious a series of acts as ever men 
performed. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

And wliile we cheerfully recognize in tlie Huguenots, 
the Scotch, and the Dutch colonies, in many of the 
Cavaliers, and even in Pocahontas, a lofty type of char- 
acter; and while we acknowledge how much this coun- 
try owes of her position and possessions to them ; while 
we deliffht to recall the actions of men like Nathaniel 
Bacon and others, noble Virginians, who overthrew the 
tyranny of Berkley, and who wrought out the freedom 
of the colonies in part, even a century before it was 
matured, yet we must believe that all the higher inter- 
ests of society, the departments of education, theology, 
commerce, manufactures, have been more thoroughly ad- 
vanced by New England and her migrating sons, than 
by any other section of the nation. 

This is the only country whose origin and history em- 
body these great principles : the will of tlie majority shall 
be expressed in the choice of civil rulers ; the rights of 
the people shall be guarded by a constitution ; and man 
shall exercise his own convictions and judgment in matters 
of rehgion. These principles we express by the terms, 
— civil freedom, liberty of conscience. 

There are, indeed, those among us who, in view of the 
extravagant lengths to which the democratical principle 
is urged by many, are now entertaining doubts whether 
the estabhshment of these principles, and their incorpo- 
ration into the institutions of society was a real progress 
of the human race. And when the example of these 
States was recently employed to secure the success of 
certain political measures in Great Britain, eminent 
statesmen declared unquaUfiedly that our grand experi- 



INTRODUCTION. XVU 

ment is a failure. And even so liberal a political phi- 
losopher as Lord Macaulay has left his testimony very 
nrnch to the same effect. 

Should the result of all this discussion and this dis- 
couraging estimate of our prospects be, to induce in our 
people more serious inquiries into the peculiar principles 
of our social system, and into the history of that terrible 
conflict through which their discoverers and defenders 
were compelled to pass, they will be to the cause of 
humanity a great benefit. 

This is not the place for the discussion of political 
principles, and yet we cannot refrain from referring to 
the peculiar character of the war now raging in our 
beloved land. What are the avowed principles and aims 
of its originators ? Their principles are those of Feudal- 
ism and Chivalry ; their aim is to crush Puritanism, to 
thrust Massachusetts out of the Union, and secure an 
oligarchical government. Why is their animosity directed 
to Massachusetts particularly ; why to New England gen- 
erally ; why is " Yankee " the chosen epithet to inflame 
the animosity of their people? All indicates that they 
feel the working of the old Puritan leaven, just as Laud 
and Jeffries felt it in former days. Let us, then, dis- 
tinctly state the question between the two parties, in a 
form which, to many minds, is itself a decision of the 
point at issue. The question, then, is simply this : If 
men are not competent to govern themselves, are they 
competent to govern other people ? If not, is a human 
government possible .'' It will, indeed, be said, the ca- 
pacity for government is as rare an endowment as any 



XVUl INTRODUCTION. 

otluT ix't-ulhu- tak'iit, l)eing confiiKMl to the fe\v. If we 
grant that position, then tlie question ari^^es, AVhat is the 
HK^st desirable method of discovering who jx>ssesses both 
the genius for ruHng. and the probity that will secure its 
right exercise ? We say there cannot be any infallible 
method. And of the two, popular election and hereditary 
succession, we prefer the former from our knowledge of 
the past and of men. And we should cite Great Britain 
itself in proof of the correctness of our position, because 
many of her hereditary rulers have been the most incom- 
petent in the nation ; and her house of commons, which 
is her real ruler, is elective. 

But our interest in the work here introduced arises 
not so much from its relations to our political history, as 
from its connection with the gospel of Chi'ist and liberty 
of conscience. 

It has been said that the Pilgrims sought liberty only 
for themselves. Well, this is confessedly a great deal. 
Wallace was not seeking liberty for mankind, nor Tell, 
nor the heroes of Marathon. Yet the world has canon- 
ized them. Why not the poor pilgrims then ? There 
are two kinds of heroes. The one class seek liberty for 
the whole race. They sit in snug libraries, and write 
heroic stanzas about universal liberty. There are others 
who try, at every sacrifice of inferior interests, both to 
maintain the true doctrine of human rights, and to gain 
their own freedom. The Pilgrims were of this class. 

In regard to the claims made in behalf of Roger Wil- 
liams, if this were the place we should enter some quali- 
fying protests. But, admit them all; it then remains 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

true that he was an Englishman, a Puritan, a Pilgrim ; 
that while he did comprehend more clearly than his 
brethren the nature and extent of the rights of the indi- 
vidual conscience, he did not comprehend as fully as they 
the rights of associated consciences. He claimed not only 
the risrht of thinkin«: for himself, but also of disturbinor 
others in the enjoyment of their rights. The universal 
adoption of his views and practices would have made the 
existence of government an impossibility. We accept the 
judgment of him which Professor Stow^e * has pronounced. 
He " w^as an honest, good man ; at heart a Christian. 
The great duty of religious toleration he saw clearly, and 
practised consistently. In this he was greatly in advance 
of most men of his age." Yet " no commonwealth, es- 
pecially in times of feebleness and danger, could, without 
self-annihilation, tolerate such a course as he sometimes 
took in regard to the government of the colonies." We 
have surely seen much to illustrate this in the course 
taken by many citizens of the free States during this 
rebellion. Self-preservation demanded their ejection from 
a country whose hands they were weakening in the day 
of its trial. 

But we have heard still other charges. 

The Pilgrims have been called "• schismatics, fanatics, 
and persecutors." 

Wliat is a schism ? Et^nnologically, Abraham was a 
schismatic ; so w^ere the apostles ; so was the church of 
England. All of these separated from the church of 
their fathers and their nation. Every separation, then, 

* Bib. Sacra, YII. 106. 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

is not soliisniatio. That quality is detoniiiuod by tlio 
ciivuinstanoos aiul inotivts ot" tho sepanition. Had, then, 
tho Indopondents sutVioiont ivason for changing their eo 
clesiastieal position ? 

That great religions nunenient, eniphatieally called the 
Ket'orniaiion, \va< probably nowhere so incomplete in its 
origin, char-aeter. and immediate tvsnlts as within the \^\\e 
ot" the Anglican church I In no other nation was it so 
prominently a political movement in its original aims, 
spirit, and measures, as in Kngland. There were, imdoubt- 
edly, men among the English ivformers as gxHlly. as 
learned, as evangelical, as Luther. Calvin. Kno\. or Zuii\- 
gle. But. while in every other couiury the ivvolutiou 
was achievcvl by clergymen mainly, in England the royiU 
will was its mainspring, and the ivyal hand its guide. 

Two sterner wills never swayed the sceptiv ot' domin- 
ion than those ot' lleiuy VI IT. and Elizabeth, the father 
and the foster-mother oi' the English Keformation. That 
either of them knew the gospel experimentally, we tind 
ourselves unable to believe: and we reg-:\i\l it not un- 
charitable to say it. while examining the history ot' the 
Pn.Mestant Episcopal Chun'h. Eor all that is gvxlly in 
its ministry and its members we aiv devoutly thankful 
to Him t'lvm whom all g\xxl destvnds. But when our 
bivthivn claim some historical preeminence alnne those 
who build with them upon Christ, the oidy foundation, 
we must put in our [uxnest. AVe would, indctnl. hold 
no individual in our day responsible tor the tyranity and 
cruelty of Laud and AVhitgitK But we maintain, that 
wluMi a In-anch of the church claims a historical superi- 



INTIUUH'OTION. XXI 

oritv to othor braiu'lies, it must, in hom>sfv, fnkf iho 
^vhole ot" ihoir poouliar history. This is tho mill-stono 
:u\nnul tho nook of tho KvMuaii ohuioh. iSo t;ir as wo 
oxuh in boin^- of tlio I'iliirini ohnroh, a\ t» tnnst tako tliat 
I'hnri'h in its imlividual and taitiiv history. It" its t^riiini 
luul bt'on in hist, anii prido. and ooyounisin^^s, then \v«^ 
shonld tO(d oonstralnod to saN , not •'our jih>rious apos- 
tv^Hi';)! cbnuvh," but. "a Svrian n\ as our taihor," and \yo 
>yill honootorth ^rloi-y not in what tlistiuiiuishos us from 
mon \yho may bo as ph-asin^U' to (uxl as oui-soKos. but 
in Christ, \yho bohnigs equally to all bolloyors. 

Kuirlish history is a soltMun illustnition ot' that proooss 
of judizniont whioh is adyanoing- to its ouhninaiinix soono 
.at tho end oi^ our \yorld's probation. Ilo\y louir had Aye 
booi\ aooustoniod to tho soryiU' ropn^souiatious ot" Unuio 
and the court historians ! ^Vllat uauio has boon uioro 
blaokonod than that ot" Oliyor CrontNvoll ! For ntoro than 
t\yo oonfurios tho nanu> of l>ro\ynt\ a ron(\;l:ulo. has boon 
thro%yn as mud. at tho imaut^s ot' tl\o l*ilirrims : and Pon- 
ry has boon synonymous \yifh tho yih>sf naun^s in tln^ 
Kuirlish yooabulary. Hut sUnyly and surely tho truth is 
I eoiuini:: to liirht ; and men's moral judeinonts are under- 

' iioinir aroat ehauiros. It" noihiuii- (dse. the promim>nt 

• inthionce ot" the Tilirrims, in t"i>rminp: the eharaetor of 

this republio, has oalled for a new iuyostijration inti> their 
history. Surely Ixobinson and l>re\yster and l>arro^vo 
and Johnson and (irt^emyoiHl eould not lune been sueh 
j mon as history has been aooustomed to ilepiet them, and 

I yet lune moulded sueh a natiiui as this, to sueh an ex- 
tent, by their Nyritings and spirit. 



XXn DTTRODUCTION. 

Another liistorian now invites us to open some new 
chapters of the martYT-historv and the martvr-literature 
of our fatherhuid. Fi*om their own and contemporane- 
ous writings, from those most afteeting records, found on 
the scraps of paper obtained in prison without the con- 
sent of my loi"d the archbishop, and moistened with the 
tears of men now in heaven, to whose story angels have 
probably listened with admiration, we have here an oppor- 
tunity of forming, on authoritative grounds, our estimate 
of the character and aims of the men prominent in ulti- 
mately giving to the Enghsh Reformation its complete- 
ness and its true development, 

None of our ances^tors have laid us under such a debt 
as those who purchased our freedom by suffering long im- 
prisonments ; our wealth, by tlieir own deep poverty ; our 
joys, by their own sorrows ; and it is due to oui'selves 
as well as them, that we should rid our Hiinds of aU 
prejudices and false apprehensions in regard to them. 

The exiles of Leyden were called Brownists, but most 
unjustly. Browne was a renep^de who advocatetl their 
principles for a time, and then betrayed them. They 
wei*e denominated Schismatic : but the epithet is ambigu- 
ous. To rend one's self from a corrupt church, is to 
follow the apostles and the whole primitive church. 
Episcopaliim and Independent of this day are alike in- 
debttnl to these men for their protests, so intelligently and 
meekly made, so firmly maintained, even to martyrvlom. 
They were accused by their enemies of austerity. It 
has been well s^iid of Knox, that he " had been charged 
with barbarism, and, truly or untruly represented as s:iy- 



IXTEOPUCTION. XXlll 

ing, that the nn^korios of oathoilral> must fall, or the 
rook< ot' the doi-gv would ivtuni." Rut tho Papacv ilitl 
that, and worse th.au that, in the ea>e ot' (he Pon-Koval- 
ists. "It swept out the doves, and hewed liown tlu' doN e- 
eote that the owl u\ii:ht sU\>p iu peace, aiul the i-aveu uot 
be shauuni by eouiparisou with the birds ot" a sweettn* 
voiee aud brighter wing." It" they were austere, what else 
eould they be toward siudi evils as they were ealled uiuni 
to ret^ist I So were the Lord aud his apostWs austere. 
The real question is. Were they too iudiguaiu at the 
wickedness iu the high plaees ot" the ehureh: But the 
reader ot" this eoiupilatiou will be led to observe (hat there 
were very distiuet classes ot" uumi protesting against the 
evils of the Auglieau ehureh. Those to whom New Kng- 
hvnd traces her origin, were of two classes. — the Puritans, 
who remained iu the Established church after discovering 
its errors, and the Independents, who eiuigrated to the 
continent. Some of their leaders were tiuMi who were 
ranked aiuong the tirst scholars o\' Knglaud. In that 
whole bcxly of believers to which such men as Kobiusou 
and Greenwo(.xl ministered, we can see uo signs oi' a 
tieiTe, sour, splenetic spirit. Let the reader pause when 
he sees the pastoi*s iu prison examining members tor 
mimissiou to their persecuted church, uuirkiug them as it 
were for the slaughter. Let him read Penry's letters 
to his wife, frotu the midst of a loathsome prison, sur- 
rounded by men more loathsome still : let him read Biu'- 
rowe's petition to the queen : and then, while he witnesses 
the outpourings of a husband's love, ot' a t'ather's pity 
for his helpless children ; as he witnesses the throbbings 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

of hearts full of meeknesc?, tenderness, loyalty, patriotism, 
and Christian courage, then, while the tears obscure his 
vision of the page, let him ponder the question. Are the-e 
the austere, sour fanatics of whom so much has been 
said ? 

The Puritans may have persecuted when their chance 
came : but just the ditierence between them and the Pil- 
grims was, that the former studied the questions of 
doctrine and church polity superticially, and the latter 
profoundly. The Puritans had half learneii their lesson ; 
the Pilgrims learned it all. They were not persecutors 
when in England or Xew England ; and when we are 
severe upon the Puritans, we should remember that in 
their day Charles and Laud gviverned by will, not by a 
constitution. AVe must remember that even Elizabeth 
suffered such wretches as Matthew of Canterbury to tine, 
imprison, nuitilaie, and munler Englishmen at their pleas- 
ure. AVe can never excuse jHTsecution or retaliation ; 
bur men need not have been much worse than the most 
of us. to have done something of the kind when they 
lived in an age in which, by the will of one or a few, 
judges weiv displaced, municipal chartei'S suspended, the 
press silenctHl. taxes Icn ied, parliament not convened for 
long jH'riixls, but the Star Chamlnn- in constant session 
and active operation I* 

Ti\ese men have been denominated " Fanatics," But 
this we understand meivly to mean, they believed the 
Scriptures really to be the woixl of Gixl : heaven, hell, 
prayer, repentance, holiness, Siilvation, to be realities ; 
solemn, immortiU i"eivlities in tliemselves or in tlieir re- 
lations. 



INTROPrCTIOX. XXV 

Let tlie question be proposeil, and fiiirlj answered : 
What has been the character and resuhs of their influ- 
ence in the world? 

They discovered or applied some of the most impor- 
tant principles in religion and government, which had 
never before been theoretically so stated and practically 
so applied. Some of those principles are now so famil- 
iar to us. that it may be dithcult to realize it ever 
required an exti-aoixlinary independence, energy, and 
courage to discover, avow, or apply them. Take, for 
example, the right and duty of exercising personal judg- 
ment in ascertaining the truth, and you liave before you 
a principle, the opposite of which is, an absurdity to our 
minds. And yet this was the sum mid substance of 
the hei"esy, fanaticism, impiety, and treason for which our 
godly predecessoi*s were hunted as wild beasts, and de- 
stiwed as vermin. 

In their melancholy history the Enghsh mind discov- 
ered fully that, however desirable it may be that all men 
should think alike, and think aright on religious subjects, 
yet such uniformity can never be the result of coercion 
or political measures. TMieu the human race shall have 
become wholly orthodox, it will tirst have . been wholly 
free from the constraint of human authority, civil or 
ecclesiastical. 

Some historians have discovered, and avowed that 
Britain mainly owes the chief elements of her greatness 
to her Calvinists and her Dissentei-s. K we should con- 
cede to the learned and limiented Sii* J. Stephen, that 
'• England owes her greatness to her noble mid sacer- 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

dotal classes, wlio have secured the growth and main- 
tenance of her constitutional liberties," yet we should 
insist that tliere were periods when it was by martyr- 
patience and the might of meekness, endurance, and toil, 
that those liberties were wrung from the reluctant grasp 
of the hierarchy by men and women who belong neither 
to the noble orders nor to the State hierarchy. 

The glory of the Puritans and Pilgrims is, not so 
much that tliev crave the world the relio^ious and civil 
institutions out of which this republic sprang, but that 
they refonned, or, rather, completed the Reformation. 
They brought religion back to its vital principles ; they 
showed it to be a personal union with Christ by a per- 
sonal taith, which neither churches, nor functionaries, nor 
ceremonies can impart nor destroy, but to which it is 
their highest glory to minister, even in the obscurest 
believer. 

It is time the history of these men were better known 
than they generally are ; their characters seen apart from 
oddities of costumes, of names, and of manners ; their 
religious faith seen to be the source of their noble deeds 
and institutions ; and their example recognized as a light 
on the pathway of humanity. 

The tendency of human nature is, to work backward 
from a heroic age and race to unheroic principles and 
customs. A few thinkers, at least, in every generation, 
ought to have those principles fresh in their memory. 
The tliscussions and researches by which reformers have 
reached their conclusions, ought to be so fiuuiliiU' to at 
least a few leading minds, that society need not be for- 



INTRODUCTION. XXVli 

ever moving in a circle, and retnrning npon its own 
track. 

But,- patient reader, it is time you should be introduced 
to our author. He, and his works, will not need a second 
introduction to the people of this continent. Having a 
mind capable of distinguishing, and a heart capable of ap- 
preciating those grand elements of character so prominent 
in that struggle for spiritual emancipation, and in that de- 
fence of spiritual religion which resulted in giving America 
her richest treasure, he is peculiarly fitted for making these 
researches. But we will not gratify our own feelings at 
the expense of his, whose modesty and simplicity of char- 
acter would but be offended at any thing that should 
obtrude him between this book and its reader. If, how- 
ever, we may not thus commend him to the reader's 
confidence, we may speak of his peculiar qualification for 
the task here undertaken, in the possession of so many 
genuine documents, such a mine of Puritan literature, 
heretofore unedited, unknown, safe from the unwise med- 
dling of friendly emendation, and beneath the notice of 
unfriendly eyes. Let us admire the ways of Him who 
maketh " the wrath of man to praise him," while the 
remainder he will restrain. The churchman of Laud's 
day so hated the Independent follower of Christ, and so 
dreaded the influence of- his writings, that, while he was 
burned or exiled, his manuscripts, letters, diaries, narra- 
tives, petitions, and remonstrances, his papers were taken 
from him. But why were they not burned? Ashes 
preach no heresy. Aye, indeed! why were they not 
destroyed? The wrath of num avouUI naturally have 



XXVUl INTRODUCTION. 

done that. But that wrath was restrained, and the ene- 
mies of the Puritans and Pilgrims, the men who intended 
to prevent tlie spreading of their principles, were merely 
used by Providence to deposit these sacred seeds in a 
safe place, that they might be brought out in due time, 
to be scattered in a soil ready to receive them. 

And what more opportune than this effort to sow them 
in the hearts of this people, when these very principles 
are working their way, as we trust, to victory, through 
strife and bloodshed ! The Cavalier and the Roundhead 
seem now met for the last time, to determine which shall 
have this broad field for sowing his seed ; which set of 
principles shall mould the coming millions on this conti- 
nent. God speed the right ! # 



TRACK OF THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 



I. 



The inquiry, on which we propose to enter, is 
not unlike a descent into the catacombs. The 
explorer of the subterranean region which contains 
the memorials of Christian confessors, leaves, for a 
time, the breathing world, to enter alone, and with 
a feeble light, hidden recesses, long forgotten, and 
almost unknown. The silence is oppressive. He 
is startled, at first, by the sound of his own foot- 
steps ; but, as he gains confidence, the sense of 
strangeness and of solitude is lost in the interest 
he feels in deciphering the inscriptions which remain 
upon the broken fragments around him ; to tell in 
their touching and eloquent simplicity of the con- 
flicts and sufferings of the faithful, — whose names, 
once cast out as evil, are now brought to grateful 

and instructive remembrance. 

1 



4 THE HIDDEN CHUHCH. 

Our aim is to trace the course of men of whom 
the world was not worthy, and who have no place 
in its history. The memorial of them would have 
perished, if those who took their lives had not also 
seized their books and papers. These precious 
documents remain in the care of Providence, undis- 
turbed, from the circumstance that for nearly three 
centuries they were accessible only to those who 
had no curiosity to look into them. 

Here, for example, are prison letters written in 
haste, and with many tears ; petitions for relief, to 
which the distressed suppliants durst not append 
their signatures ; broken and hurried communica- 
tions from stern oppressors, vexed with the constancy 
they could not subdue, and irritated by the failure 
of all their plans to silence the humble witnesses 
Cor truth whom they affected to despise. 

From these and similar fragmentary memorials, 
we are to make out the story of the Hidden Church. 

We confess, at the outset, that we are at serious 
disadvantage from the want of an appropriate de- 
signation. The names given to the early pioneers 
of truth and freedom in England were intended 
only as terms of reproach. They do not, therefore, 
give a fair representation of their principles. We 
shall have to speak of them as Separatists and 
Brownists ; but they might rather be called the 
Nazarenes of the Reformation. Like their Master, 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 3 

they were hated and opposed by all parties, because 
of the truth .to which they were called to bear wit- 
ness. To determine their relative position, and to 
mark their progress, it will be useful to glance at 
the facts of contemporaneous history. 

The accession of Elizabeth to the throne of Eng- 
land was the signal for the return of the exiles who 
had fled to the continent in the Marian persecution. 
They hastened to their native land in the expecta- 
tion of seeing the principles of the Reformation fully 
carried out. But in this hope they were destined 
to suffer severe disappointment. They soon found 
that the form of the new establishment was to be 
determined rather by the requirements of a com- 
prehensive state policy, than by a direct appeal to 
Scripture. The queen assumed absolute supremacy 
in ecclesiastical matters ; and it was her aim, by 
an ingenious compromise, at once to reconcile the 
Romanist and to accommodate the Protestant with- 
in the pale of the church to be called into existence 
in obedience to her royal pleasure. She insisted 
that there should be an immediate truce from re- 
ligious controversy, and that all parties should yield, 
in things spiritual as well as temporal, unqualified 
submission to her sole authority. 

With some reluctance, a section of the Anglican 
reformers acquiesced in the system proposed for 
their adoption. They would have preferred a sys- 



4 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

tern of church polity more consistent with their 
personal views, but they feared lest the power and 
emoluments of the episcopate should revert to the 
secret adherents of the papacy. They yielded to 
expediency, and overcame their scruples, to enjoy the 
temporal advantages of which they had for a long 
time been deprived. A few of their number, to the 
credit of their profession, dechned to accept office 
at the expense of sincerity. Notwithstanding the 
gilded bait, they held their faith with a good con- 
science. As they found opportunity, they continued 
to instruct the people in places remote from the 
observation of the court, and in the quietest manner, 
to avoid offence. In the letters exchanged between 
the reformers in England and their brethren on the 
continent, we learn the state of things, and the 
various mental conflicts to which it naturally gave 
rise. " I had once," says one of them, " a little cot- 
tage at Zurich, and if God would grant my wishes, 
I should most anxiously return to it." He felt as 
a stranger in the land of his birth, and sighed for 
the congenial society and the simple ordinances of 
Christian worship he had enjoyed on the banks of 
the peaceful lake in a Swiss canton. The expe- 
rience of Thomas Lever is illustrative, though he 
was more favored than many of his brethren. In a 
■etter to Bullinger, dated Coventry, July 10, 1560, he 
writes : " No discipline is as yet established by any 



THE HIDDEN CHUKCH. O 

public authority. Many of our parishes have no 
clergymen, and some dioceses are without a bishop ; 
and out of that small number who administer the 
sacrament throughout this great country, there is 
hardly one in a hundred who is both able and will- 
ing to preach the word of God ; but all persons are 
obliged to read only what is prescribed in the books. 
" If you wish for any tidings respecting myself, I 
would have you know that immediately after my 
return to England, I travelled through a great part 
of it for the sake of preaching the gospel ; and there 
is a city in the middle of England called Coventry, 
in which there have always been, since the revival 
of the gospel, gi-eat numbers zealous for evangelical 
truth ; so that in the last persecution under Mary, 
some were burned (at the stake), and others went 
into banishment with myself; and the remainder, 
long tossed about in great difficulty and distress, 
have at last, on the restoration of pure religion, in- 
vited other preachers, and myself in particular, to 
proclaim the gospel to them at Coventry. After I 
had discovered, by the experience of some weeks, 
that vast numbers in this place were in the habit 
of frequenting public preaching of the gospel, I 
consented to their request, that I should settle my 
wife and family among them ; and thus, now for 
nearly a whole year, I have preached to them with- 
out any hinderance, and they have liberally main- 

1* 



6 THE HIDDEN CHVRCH. 

tained me and my family in this city. For we are 
not bound to each other, neither to the townsmen, 
nor they to me, by any kiw or engagement, but only 
by free kindness and love." The best of bonds 
siu-ely in such relations. 

These services in Coventry, however, were ex- 
ceptional, and held only on sutferance. Stringent 
measures were soon adopted to reduce all ministers 
and congregations to the same ecclesiastical order, 
and it was determined to allow no variation in the 
mode of worship. Subscription was required to the 
thirty-nine articles in 1562, and orders were issued 
in 1564 for the suppression of preaching, except by 
the clergy who should engage on oath to comply 
with every part of the regulations with respect to 
ceremonies. Earnest remonstrances were uttered 
by divines of the soundest learning, and of the most 
exemplary pietv. " I understand," said William 
Whittingham, '• they are about to compel us, con- 
trary to our consciences, to wear the popish apparel, 
or deprive us of our ministry and livings. Yet 
when I consider the weighty charge enjoined upon 
us by the Almighty God, and the exact account we 
have to give of the right use and faithful dispensa- 
tion of llis mvsteries, I cannot doubt which to 
choose. . . . What agreement can the superstitious 
inventions have with the pure word of God ? What 
edification can there be when the Spirit of God is 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 7 

grieved, the children of God discouraged, wicked 
papists confirmed, and a door opened for such j)opish 
traditions and wicked impiety ? Can that be called 
true liberty, where a yoke is laid on the necks of 
the disci])les ; where the conscience is clogged with 
impositions ; where faithful preachers are threatened 
with deprivation ; where congregations are robbed 
of the learned and godly pastors ; and where the 
holy sacraments are made subject to superstitious 
and idolatrous vestments ? ... If we compel the ser- 
vants of Christ to conform unto the papists, I greatly 
fear we shall return again to popery." 

" Our case, my Lord, will be deplorable, if such 
compulsion should be used against us, while so 
much lenity is used toward the papists. How many 
papists enjoy their liberty and livings, who have 
neither sworn obedience to the queen's majesty, nor 
discharged their duty to their miserable flocks ! 
These men laugh and triumph to see us treated 
thus, and are not ashamed of boasting, that they 
hope the rest of popery will soon return. My Lord, 
pity the disconsolate churches. Hear the cries and 
groans of many thousands of God's poor children, 
hungering and thirsting after spiritual food. I need 
not appeal to the word of God, to the history of the 
primitive church, to the just judgments of God 
poured out upon the nations for lack of true refor- 
mation. Judge ye betwixt us and our enemies 



8 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

And if we seek the glory of God alone, the enjoy- 
ment of true Christian liberty, the overthrow of all 
idolatry and superstition, and to win souls to Christ ; 
I beseech your honor to pity oui* ease, and to use 
your utmost endeavors to secure unto us oiu lib- 
erty." 

Insensible to such appeals, and regardless of the 
churches deprived of their preachers, the prelates en- 
forced the rule of uniformity with gi'eater rigor. 

Archbishop Parker and Bishop Grindal, in a joint 
communication to Secretary Cecil, dated " Lambeth, 
the 20th of March, 1565," express their determina- 
tion to bring the clergy to submission : " We 
mean to call all manner of pastors and curates 
within the city of London to appear before us at 
Lambeth in the Chapel there, and to expound the 
cause, and say some things to move them to con- 
formity, with intimations of the penalty which 
necessarilv must ensue as^ainst the recusants. After 
the general exposition, as aforesaid, to the whole 
number, we intend particularly to examine every 
one of them, whether they will promise conformity 
in their ministrations and outward apparel estab- 
lished by law and injunction, and testify the same 
by subscription at their hands. It is intended pres- 
ently to suspend all such as refuse to promise 
conformity in the premises ; and also to pronounce 
sequestration of their ecclesiastical livings, from and 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 9 

after the day of our Lady next, being now at hand. 
And after such sequestrations, if they be not recon- 
ciled within three months, to proceed to depriva- 
tion of their livings by due form of law. We may 
make an intimation of the sarcenet tippet, to s^ch 
as may wear it by act of parliament. Anno Hen. 
VIIL, and as to move them, if this be thought good. 
In fine, we think very many of the churches will 
be destitute of their pastors ; and that many will 
forsake their livings, and live at printing, teaching 
children, or otherwise as they can. That no tumult 
may follow what speeches and talks be likely to rise 
in the realm, and presently in the whole city by this, 
we leave it to your wisdom to confer ; and we trust 
that the Queen's Majesty will send some honorable 
to join with us two, to authorize the rather her 
commandment and pleasure, as your honor signified 
unto me was proposed. And thus praying your 
honor to consult with whom your wisdom shall 
think most meet, that we may be resolved, and that 
on Friday, the parties summoned for their appear- 
ance on Saturday following, at one of the clock, 
order may be taken, or else after these two holidays, 
on Tuesday afternoon at the farthest." * 

The calculation of forces seems to have been 
carefully made by' the two episcopal commanders. 

* Lansdowne MSS,, Vol. 8, No. 86. 



10 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

A " general exposition," followed by a little persua- 
sion, with intimations of the penal consequences of 
non-compliance. The reserved force they looked 
for to the secular authorities. The coolness with 
which these chief pastors anticipated the privation 
and distress that would ensue to the conscientious 
clergy is characteristic. 

No time was lost. The Chapel at Lambeth was 
filled on the 26th of the same month with the pas- 
tors and curates of the metropolis summoned for 
the occasion. Apparently to give dramatic effect to 
\ I the proceedings, Mr. Robert Cole, just enriched with 

two benefices in London, preseffted himself in th^ 
priestly habits according to the authorized pattern, 
not excepting the " sarcenet " tippet. " My masters," 
cried the bishop chancellor, as he pointed to the 
tableau vivant, " and ye ministers of London, the 
Council's pleasure is, that strictly ye keep the unity 
of apparel, like this man who stands here canonically 
habited with a square cap, a scholar's gown, priest- 
like, and, in the church, a linen surplice. Ye that 
will subscribe, write volo ; those that will not sub- 
scribe, write nolo. Make no words." 

Some of the ministers attempted to speak. 
" Peace ! Peace ! " cried the Chancellor. " Appari- 
tor I call over the churches. Ye masters, answer 
presently under the penalty of contempt." 

John Fox, the venerable martyrologist, was first 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 11 

called. Taking his Greek Testament out of his 
pocket, he said: "To this will I subscribe. I 
have nothing in the church but a prebend in Salis- 
bury, and much good may it do you, if you take it 
from me." 

The majority succumbed ; but notwithstanding 
the pressure upon them, many had courage to say 
" Nolo." Some of them had been companions in 
exile for the faith, and to preserve a good conscience 
they were ready to suffer the loss of all things. 

The victory of the prelates, therefore, was only 
partial. The subscribers had the greatest cause for 
humiliation. " We are killed," they said, " in our 
souls by this pollution. We cannot perform our 
ministry in the singleness of our hearts." The 
Archbishop hastened to report the result of the 
proceedings. His letter to Cecil conveys his impres- 
sions at the time : 

"Sir, — I must signify to your honors what this 
day we have done in the examination of the London 
ministers. Sixty-one promised conformity. Nine ^l 
or ten were absent. Thirty-seven denied ; of which 
number were the best, and some preachers ; six or 
seven are diligent, sober men, pretending conscience. 
Divers of them zealous, but of little learning. We 
did suspend them, and sequestered the fruits, and 
from all manner of ministry, with signification, that 



12 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

if they would not reconcile themselves within three 
months, then to be deprived. They showed reason- 
able quietness and modesty, othenvise than I looked 
for. I think some of them must come in, when they 
shall feel their want ; especially such as but in a 
spiced fancy held out. Some of them were moved 
in a conference, wherein I labored by some adver- 
tisements to pacify ; but they would not grieve. It 
is not felt as, I think, it will be hereafter. Some of 
them alleged that there were fruits, and would 
have some toleration, or discharge of payment. I 
answered, I could not so dispense, and left them to 
their fate. 

Thus your honor hath all worth the writing. 
I pray your honor to move my Lord of London 
to execute the order. My Lord of Ely did write 
me a letter, wherein he did signify, that if Lon- 
don were reformed, all the realm would soon 
follow, as I believe the same. This 26th of March, 
1566." 

" Your honor's, always in Christ," 

" Matthew Cant." 

It must be admitted that " Matthew Cant." 
pressed the siege with uncommon vigor. To starve 
the " Nolos " into surrender the sooner, he resolved 
to exact the dividends in the shape of " fruits," even 
when the income of the poor incumbent was 
sequestered. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 13 

But we turn aside from the semi-political and 
semi-religious contest connected with the question 
of vestments so often described in puritan history, 
to mark the course of the moral conflict entered into 
by men of another order. There were Christian 
people in London at this time w^ho had stood their 
ground in the midst of all the Marian troubles. 
When the leaders of the reformation in England 
were driven into exile or burnt at the stake, these 
humble Christian confessors continued to meet for 
worship. Not a few of their brethren passed through 
the ordeal of martyrdom. The simple notices of 
them to be found in the " acts and monuments," 
evince their spirit. The pastor, John Rough, tells us j 
(September 17, 1557) that he attended the burning 
of four martyrs at Islington " to learn the way." 
On the 27th of June, 1566, twenty thousand persons 
stood around the blazing faggots which consumed 
thirteen brethren at Bow. The object of their 
coming to that appalling scene was " to strengthen 
themselves in the profession of the gospel, and to 
exhort and to comfort those who were to die." 
Bentham w^ent with his .congregation to Smithfield, v 
on the 28th of June, 1558, to witness the burning 
of Holland and six of his companions. Standing 
before the assembled multitude, and in defiance of 
the prohibitory law, the intrepid pastor, in a loud 
voice, said : " Almighty God, for Christ's sake, help 



14 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

them." All the people gave the response, " Amen ! 
Amen ! " 

The decrees of Lambeth only stimulated such 
men to reiterate their good confession. It is true 
that, to the proud and intolerant hierarchy, their 
movements appeared to be almost ridiculous, except 
for its annoyance. Bishop Grindal, speaking of them 
to Bullinger, says : " Some London citizens of the 
lowest order, together with four or five ministers, 
remarkable neither for judgment nor learning, have 
openly separated from us, and sometimes in private 
houses, sometimes in the fields, and occasionally 
even in ships, they have held their meetings and 
administer the sacraments. Besides this, they have 
ordained ministers and elders, after their own way/' 
It is a consolation to his Lordship of London that 
the sect consists " of more women than men." 
^ There is a singular coincidence between the expres- 

sions of the prelate and those of Celsus, the first 
writer against Christianity. That infidel opponent 
jeeringly says : " Wool workers, cobblers, leather- 
dressers, the most illiterate and vulgar of mankind, 
were zealous preachers of the gospel, and addressed 
themselves, particularly in the outset, to women and 
children." 

The haUs belonging to the various city companies 
of London have, at different periods, afforded shelter 
and accommodation for persecuted Christians who 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 15 

desired to meet for worship. The congregation held 
in Plumbers' Hall which was surprised there June 
16, 1567, does not seem, however, to have had the 
sanction of the civil authorities. The sheriffs of 
London broke upon them and found about one 
hundred persons present. Most of them were 
apprehended and taken to the compter. Next day 
Robert Hawkins, William White, Thomas Bowland, 
John Smith, William Nixon, James Ireland, and 
Richard Morecraft, were brought before Bishop 
Grindal, Dean Goodman, Archdeacon Watts, the 
Lord Mayor, and other commissioners. The Bishop 
charged them with absenting themselves from the 
parish churches, and with setting up separate 
assemblies for prayer, preaching, and administering 
the sacrament. The inquisitorial examination to 
which they were subjected, has often been printed, 
so that we have no need to reproduce it here ; but it 
is important to observe the names, because we shall 
find in them a link of connection with the church, 
of which original documents have very recently 
come to light. The appeal of the accused was to 
the Scripture. " We will be judged," they said, " by 
the word of God, which shall judge us all at the last 
day, and is, therefore, sufficient to judge us now." 
It was no part of the business of the judicial bench 
to enter into a scriptural argument, but to exact an 
unreasoning submission; failing which, they com- 



16 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

mitted the prisoners to Bridewell (a jail bet^veen 
Fleet Street and Blackfriars Bridge). For two 
years they were left in bonds, finding little sympathy 
even with the more advanced reformers. 

In the month of April, 1569, we find that twenty- 
four of the brethren were discharged by an order of 
council, namely, — Robert Hawkins, John Smith, 
John Ropes, James Ireland, WiUiam Nixson, Walter 
Hinkesman, Thomas Bowland, George Waddy, 
William Turner, John Nash, James Adderton, 
Thomas Lidford, Richard Langton, Alexander Lacy, 
John Leonard, Robert Tod, Roger Hawks\x^rth, 
Robert Sparrow, Richard King, Chi'istopher Cole- 
man, John Benson, John Bolton, Robert Gates, and 
William White, with seven women, whose names 
are not given. 

The tw^o years spent in jail only deepened the 
convictions of these faithful brethren ; and, on the 
repeated avowal of their sentiments, they were re- 
committed to prison. From original documents, in 
the State Paper Office, we learn that a voluntary 
church was organized under the pastoral care of 
Richard Fitz, of which Thomas Bowland, one of 
the Bridewell confessors, was chosen deacon. The 
precious fragments, so long concealed, and now 
first printed, must excite a strong desire for further 
discoveries in relation to this deeply interesting wit- 
nessing community. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 17 

The following brief manifesto exhibits its charac- 
ter: 

« The True Marks of Christ's Churchy etc— The 
order of the privy church in London, which by 
the malice of Satan is falsely slandered and evil 
spoken of: the minds of them that by the strength 
and working of the Almighty, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
have set their hands and hearts to the pure, un- 
mingled, and sincere worship of God, according to 
His blessed and glorious word in all things, only 
abolishing and abhorring all traditions and inven- 
tions of man whatsoever, in the same religion and 
service of our Lord God: knowing this always 
that the true and afflicted church of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ either hath, or else evermore 
continually under the cross striveth for to have : 

" First and foremost, the glorious word and 
Evangel preached not in bondage, but freely and 
purely. 

" Secondly, to have the sacraments ministered 
purely, only altogether according to the institution 
and good word of the Lord Jesus, without any tra- 
dition or invention of man. 

" And, last of all, to have, not the filthy canon 
law, but discipline only and altogether agi-eeable to 
the same heavenly and Almighty word of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

" Richard Fitz, Minister J^ 

2* ^ 



18 THE HIDDEN CHTJHCH. 

After the death of their pastor, in prison, the 
members of the church, in 1571, prepared and 
signed a document to the following effect : 

" According to the saying of the Almighty our 
God, Matt, xviii. 20 : * Wherever two or three are 
gathered in my name, there am I ; ' so we, a poor 
congregation whom God hath separated from the 
churches of England, and from the mingled and 
false worship therein used ; out of the which assem- 
blies the Lord our only Saviour hath called us, and 
still caUeth, saying, ' Come out from among them, 
and separate yourselves from them, and touch no 
unclean thing, then I will receive you, and I vnR be 
your God, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, 
saith the Lord.' 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. So God giveth 
us strength at this day. We do serve the Lord 
every Sabbath day in houses, and on the fourth day 
in the week we meet, or come together weekly, to 
use prayer, and exercise discipline on them as de- 
serve it, by the strength and sure warrant of the 
Lord our God's word, as in IMatt. xviii. 15-18 ; 
2 Cor. V." 

" Some of the clergy," they add, " through their 
pomp and covetousness, have brought the gospel of 
our Saviour Jesus Chiist into such slander and con- 
tempt, that men do think, for the most part, that the 
papists do use and hold a better religion than those 
which call themselves Christians, ' and are not, but 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 19 

do lie.' Rev. iii. 9. The Holy Ghost saith : ' I 
beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, 
which had two horns like the Lamb.' So this secret 
and disguised Antichrist, to wit, this canon law, of 
which the branches and their maintainers, though 
not so openly, have by long imprisonment pined 
and then killed the Jjord's servants (as our minister, 
Richard Fitz, Thomas Bowland, deacon, one Par- 
tridge, and Giles Fowler), and besides them a great 
multitude. The very walls of the prison about this 
city, as the Gatehouse, Bridewell, the Counters, the 
King's Bench, and the Marshalsea, the White Lyon, 
would testify God's anger against this land for such 
injustice and subtle persecution. Signed — Henry 
Sparrowe, Jasper Woston, John Kyng, Martin Til- 
man, John Davy, Odye Lowne, Elizabeth Hill, 
Joane Mavericke, Margaret Weever, Abraham Fox, 
Mary Meyer, Eliz. Rumney, Anne Hall, James An- 
byn, John Leonarde, George Hames, John Thomas, 
Jane Evance, Elizabeth Leonarde, Jane Ireland, 
Eliz. Clarke, Mary Race, Helen Stokes, Sara Cole, 
Constance Fox, Eliz. Balforth, Joane Abraham." 

And this is all we know of this simple minded 
and earnest people who, almost unconsciously, 
commenced the struggle for principles which have 
leavened society for three centuries in England and 
America. A few words written in sorrow, but with 
an invincible faith, on a sheet of paper kept in the 



20 THE HIDDEK CHURCH. 

archives of Queen Victoria, contain the only record 
of them known to be in existence. We look upon 
them with an interest deeper than that of the trav- 
eller who has reached the undoubted source of some 
mighty river. Is it too much to say : " From this 
little fountain sprung all our freedom of religion ? " 

The examination of William. White, more or less 
identified with the members of this Hidden Church, 
exhibits their heroic spirit. 

On the 18th of January, 1573, he was brought 
before the Lord Chief Justice, the Master »f the Rolls, 
the Master of Requests, the Dean of Westminster, 
the Sheriff of London, the Clerk of the Peace, Mr. 
Gerard. A few extracts from the colloquy that en- 
sued between the Bench and the prisoner will suffi- 
ciently indicate its character. 

Sheriff. Where is his wife ? 

White. She is at home. 

Sheriff. Was she not summoned, bailiff? 

Wliite. Though she were warned, I hope I may 
answer for myself. 

Lord Chief Justice. Who is this? 

White. White, if it please your honor. 

Lord Chief Justice. White I as black as the devil. 

White. Not so, my Lord ; one of God's children. 

After the usual brow-beating for not coming to 
the parish church, the Master of Requests said : 

" You do not obey the queen's laws." 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 21 

" Nay," added the Dean, before the prisoner had 
time to reply : "you disobey God, for God com- 
mandeth you to obey your prince ; therefore in dis- 
obeying her in these things, you disobey God." 

White. I do not avoid these things of contempt, 
but of conscience. In all other things, I am an 
obedient subject. 

Lord Chief Justice. The Queen's Majesty was 
overseen not to make thee of her council ; to make 
laws and orders for religion. 

White. Not so, my Lord. I am to obey laws 
warranted by God's word. 

Lord Chief Justice. Do the queen's laws com- 
mand any thing against God's word ? 

White. I do not say so, my Lord. 

Lord Chief Justice. Yes, marry, you do ; and 
there I will hold you. 

White. Only God and his laws are absolutely 
perfect; all men and their laws may err. 

Evidently chafed, his Lordship felt it needful for the 
sake of preserving his judicial dignity, to disclaim all 
passion in the case, at the same time reddening with 
excitement, and turning to the prisoner, he exclaimed, 
" I know thee not, saving by this occasion ; thou art 
the wickedest, and most contemptuous person that 
has come before me, since I sat in this commission." 

White. Not so, my Lord ; my conscience doth 
witness otherwise. 



22 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Gerard. White, you were released, thinking you 
would be conformable, but you are worse than ever. 

White. Not so, if it please you. 

Lord Chief Justice. He would have no laws. 

White. If there were no laws, I would live Uke 
a Christian, and do no wrong, though I received 
wrong. 

Lord Chief Justice. Thou art a rebel. 

White. Not so, my Lord, a true subject. 

Lord Chief Justice. Yea, I swear by God, thou 
art a very rebel, for thou wouldest draw thy sword, 
and lift up thy hand against thy prince, if time 
served. 

White. My Lord, I thank God my heart standeth 
right toward God and my prince ; and God will 
not condemn, though your honor hath so judged. 

Lord Chief Justice. Take him away. 

The prisoner expressed a wish that he might be 
sent to some prison near his house, and where he 
should not have again to pay the fees as he had 
paid them in other prisons. But in the temper of 
the judge it was not likely that any rehef would be 
granted. " Marry, shall you pay them," grunted out 
his Lordship. 

" It will cost you twenty pounds," said the Master 
of Requests, " I warrant you before you come out." 

" God's will be done, " replied White, as the 
officers dragged him from the court. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 23 

The abominations of a London jail of that period 
can scarcely be imagined in modern times. The 
wives of the prisoners made incessant, but fruitless 
appeals, to the judges for their release. Their 
petitions contain affecting allusions to the intoler- 
able miseries endured in the filthy dungeons. " Most 
humbly we beseech your honors for God's cause to 
hear us," so runs one of their memorials now before 
us, " the wives of these poor preachers that have 
lain almost these five months in Newgate, to the 
utter spoil and impoverishing both of themselves 
and of their poor wives and children. The cold 
weather approaching cannot but greatly hurt them." 

The constancy with which, for the truth's sake, 
they could bear up amidst so many privations, and 
in sufferings so manifold and protracted, is marvel- 
lous. How far they were from yielding, we may 
judge from a letter of White to Edward Deering, a 
Puritan minister. The rumor having reached him 
in prison, that this eminent divine was tempted to 
conceal the truth, or to modify his testimony, he 
could not refrain from offering words of fraternal 
admonition. We quote the following passages : 
" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you 
forever. Beloved Mr. Deering in the Lord Jesus. 
Forasmuch as it is reported that some would 
have you, with others, to qualify your doctrine from 
particular naming of those corruptions and main- 



24 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

« 

tainers thereof, which at this day are urged and used 
in this Church of England, I, being a simple 
brother, yet wishing sincerity in religion, with a 
thorough reformation (not doubting but you and 
your great wisdom, learning, and deep understand- 
ing in the Scriptures of God, through abundance of 
His spirit, are able to avoid the subtle sleights of 
Satan in his instruments, of which I fear the above 
named is one), I thought it my duty in the Lord to 
admonish you to take heed how you yield thereunto." 
" Since neither the prophets, Christ, his apostles, 
nor any true preachers, through entreaty, flattery, or 
tyranny, were led to cease from preaching, or to 
frame their docti'ines according to their fancy, there- 
fore my hope is, you will not ; but boldly, after the 
example of all the godly, as you have begun, go 
forward plainly and simply in the truth of God's 
gospel, which I, with my brethren, so earnestly desire 
of you, and most earnestly pray to God for you, 
that you faithfully wield the sword of God's word, — 
cut up all anti-christian remnants and men's inven- 
tions ; that the gospel being rightly planted, may 
take an everlasting root among us and our posterity, 
to the glory of God and the increase of His king- 
dom, the discharge of your conscience, and the 
everlasting salvation of all his elect : which may He 
bring to pass for the sake of His crucified Jesus, to 
whom with the Holy Ghost be glory, now and for- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 25 

evermore. So be it. Your brother in the Lord Jesus, 
in whom I wish you as to mine own soul, and in 
whose name I do daily pray to God for you, with 
all His elect as for myself. 

" W. White." * 

With equal boldness and fidelity White wrote to 
Bishop Grindal, desiring him to have " some remorse 
of conscience," and not to restrain the liberty he was 
once disposed to grant. 

Is it possible, in view of the circumstances, to 
doubt the sincerity or the disinterestedness of these 
pioneers of religious liberty. They had nothing on 
earth to gain by their self-sacrificing course. There 
was no party in existence at the time to which they 
could look for sympathy or for succor. Yet it is 
plain that there was a power in their simple tes- 
timony that baffled the most learned and the 
strongest of their opponents. The impression made 
by their appeal to the word of God, did not indeed 
convince their adversaries, but in the irritation and 
vindictiveness so frequently betrayed, the involun- 
tary proof was given that the prisoner, and not 
the judge, was in the right. And the loftiness of 
the confessor's principles is manifest in the eloquence 
w^ith which they inspired his utterance of them. 

* MSS. Part of a register. 
3 



II. 

THE SEPARATISTS' FIRST PRINTER. 

The principles held by the secret church in Lon- 
don were soon brought into considerable notoriety 
by the agency of the press, and a kind of ubiquitous 
agitation to which 1he chaplain of the Duke of 
Norfolk unexpectedly devoted himself. The prelates 
anxiously guarded the press. They had every thing 
to fear from the silent messc^ngers that could pene- 
trate into the dwellings of the people in all parts 
of the land, unaffected by tlie threatenings directed 
against oral teachers. 

By a decree of the Star Chamber, issued June 29, 
1566, unlicensed printing was prohibited under the 
severest penalties. Still, the men who had strong 
convictions to utter, found means to give them pub- 
licity in books and pamphlets. The vigilance of 
their adversaries was eluded by the printers and 
their supporters, by caution and ingenuity quite re- 
markable. Many of the aristocracy w^ere on the 
side of the Puritans, and they aftbrded a shelter for 

(20) 



THE HIDDEN CIIUllCIT. 27 

ministers in the capacity of domestic chaplains. 
We may cite the case of John Brown, in the house- 
hold of the Duchess of Suffolk, as an illustration. 
The mansion of her Grace stood nearly opposite Ihe 
church of St. George the Martyr, in Southwark, and 
within it she gave shelter to the Puritan teacher. 
She had succored the martyrs ih the days of Quec^n 
Mary, and she resolved to prot(>ct Christian confes- 
sors in the trying times of Elizabeth. With what 
firmness and tenacity she held her own against 
intimidation, we may infer from the following mis- 
sive addressed to her on the lolli of January, 1571. 
" Whereas, upon just cause, and according to the 
trust that Her Majesty hath {)ut us in, we sent for 
one Brown, your Grace's chaplain (as he saith), by 
a messenger of Her Majesty's Cliarnbiu' for that 
purpose. We are given to understand, that your 
Grace would not suffer him to come unto us, al- 
leging a j^rivileged place for his defence. Our 
commission exteiideth to all places, as well exempt 
as not exempt, within Ilt^r Maj(^sty's dominions; and 
before Ihis time never by any called into question. 
We are persuaded that yonr Grace, Iniowing the 
authority of our commission, how strailly w (; are 
chargcid to proceed in redr(\sying disorders, will not 
stay your said servant, contrary to the laws of this 
realm, but will send him unto us to answer such 
matter as he is charged withal.' We would be loth 



28 THE HIDDEN CHUKCH. 

to use other means to bring him to answer, as we 
must be forced to do, if your Grace will not like 
hereof. Thus we bid your Grace heartily farewell. 
From Lambeth, this 13th of January. 
" Your loving friends, 

" INLlTTHTE CaXTUAR, 

" Ed. Loudox, 

"B. Moxsox, 

" Gabriel Goodmax, 

" Richard Wendersley." * 

It was sufficiently mortifying to the official digni- 
taries to be baffled by a lady ; but they could not 
help themselves. Her Grace of SufFolli stood so 
high, that they could not proceed against her with 
the reckless violence used so often toward the poor 
Separatists. The chaplain retained his place, and 
we find him, some years after, writing to Cart\vright, 
" his very friend and brother in the Lord,'' on the 
subject of printing. " The cause of my ^^Titing," 
he says, " is to desire you to send me word whether 
we shall print where you have appointed. For I 
have found a good place in Southwark, at my 
brother Bradburne's, where we may do it, if you 
think good ; for the Bishop of Winchester is gone 
into the country, and, so far as I know, he will not 

* Pet^t MS., Inner Temple, No. 47, fol. 507. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 29 

come again until the latter end of May. I was 
with my Lord of Bedford the fom*th of this month, 
and he thinks it good that it were in Southwark." * 

In order to print with safety, the managers of 
the press had to watch their opportunities, and, 
above all, to observe the movements of the bishops ; 
but with care they succeeded in the attempt. 

" In any of the great movements which have re- 
newed the face of the world, or the condition of the 
human intellect, the multitude have never dispensed 
with a head. They look out for him not to get 
ideas, but because they have them ; for, if they had 
not, they would not look for him. They seek him 
that he may act in accordance with these ideas, in 
order to realize them. Rather, they have no diffi- 
culty in finding him. The keenest, the strongest, 
not always the best or most enlightened, advances ; 
sometimes advances quite alone and on his own 
account, but the standard which he raises soon gives 
him an army. 

" Thus Luther advanced at first with a dubious 
and uncertain step. He carried with him, but in a 
more profound and distinct form, the obscure idea 
of a multitude. He spoke it aloud, and the mul- 
titude recognized it, recognized themselves ; and 
through the perils of a dangerous war followed him 

* Lansdowne MSS., Vol. 64, Art. 23. 

3* 



30 THE HTDPEX CHTRCH. 

who, SO to speak, by a word made them acquainted 
with themselves/' * 

The people who separated themselves from the 
Establishment in England, found their man of 
action in Robert Browne. His position in society, 
as a relative of Lord Biurghley, and the chaplain of 
the Duke of Norfolk, secured for him attention with 
some who might not have followed a leader of 
lowlier pretensions. He does not appear to have 
assumed the permanent care of a church, and in his 
checkered course he show^ed himself to be greatly 
deficient in the patience and stabiht\- requisite for 
the pastoral charge. 

He struck out a path for himself, and went every- 
where disseminating the views of church polity 
maintained by the brethren who had professed them 
before in obscurity and trial. Books written by him, 
in the exposition and defence of these principles, 
were widely circulated. Few men have expressed 
themselves on the subject more explicitly, or with 
greater clearness, than Robeit Browne. "The church 
planted or gathered,'' he said, ** is a company or 
nmnber of Christians or believers, which, by a will- 
ing covenant made with their God, are under the 
government of God and Christ, and keep His laws 
in one holy communion; because Christ hath re- 

* Vinet. 



THE HIDDEN CIirRCn. 31 

deemed them unto holiness and happiness forever, 
from which they were fallen by the sin of Adam. 
The church government is the Lordship of Christ in 
the communion of His offices ; whereby His people 
yield obedience to His will, and have mutual use of 
their graces and callings to further their godliness 
and welfare/' 

" A pastor is a person having office and message 
of God, for exhorting and moving especially, and 
guiding accordingly, for the which he is tried to be 
meet, and thereto is duly chosen by the church 
which calleth him, or received by obedience where 
he planteth the church." 

It is difficult, in the light of the nineteenth century, 
to imagine what possible harm could arise from 
such principles, defended as they were only by plain 
and pertinent quotations from Scripture. The 
prelates of the Anglican Church, however, viewed 
them in a different light, as dangerous both to Church 
and State. The death penalty was not thought too 
severe to be inflicted on those who maintained 
them. John Copping and Elias Thacker, two min- 
isters of Suffolk, were arraigned for the offence of 
circulating the wTitings of Browne. Copping, on the 
accusation of nonconformity, was thrown into 
prison in 1576, and still holding fast to his integrity, 
on a reexamination, Dec. 1, 1578, he was sent back 
to prison, where he remained five years longer with 



32 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

his companion Tliacker. Finally, they were brought 
up before the authorities in 1583, and in the month 
of June were put to death at Bury St. Edmunds, in 
conformity with the Statute of 23 Eliz. William 
Dennis of Thetford, in Norfolk, suffered martyrdom 
for the same cause. 

Robert Browne, no doubt, would have had to 
sacrifice his life, but for the powerful intervention of 
Lord Burghley. As it was, and with all the influ- 
ence exerted in his favor, he w^as spared only on 
condition of an ignominious silence. The position 
he took, in consequence, was in every way unfavora- 
ble for his reputation. The prelatical party, 
disappointed of their prey, affixed the name of 
Brownist to the Separatists, as a standing reproach. 
The consistent adherents to the principles advocated 
by Browne, could only regard him as a deserter ; 
though there is no evidence that he sought actively 
to oppose the doctrines he had zealously taught. 
From a curious entry in the parochial records of St. 
Olaves, Southwark, we are able to determine his 
exact relations. The following entries will show 
his humiliating condition : 

''Item. The 31st day of November, 1586, was 
chosen to be schoolmaster Robert Browne, upon his 
good behavior, and observing these articles here- 
under written : 

" First. That you shall not intermeddle with the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 33 

minister, or disturb the quiet of the parishioners, by- 
keeping any conventicles or conference with any 
suspected or disorderly persons. 

" Secondly. That you shall bring your children to 
sermons and lectures in the church, and there accom- 
pany them for their better government. 

" Thirdly, If any error shall be found in you, and 
you convinced thereof, that you shall, upon admoni- 
tion thereof, revoke it, and conform yourself to the 
doctrine of the Church of England. 

" Fourthly. You shall read in your school no oth- 
er catechism than is authorized by public authority. 

" Fifthly. That you shall, at convenient times, 
communicate in this parish according to the laws. 

" Sixthly. Not being contented to answer and 
keep these articles, no longer to keep the school- 
mastership, but to avoid it. 

" Subscribed by me, Robert Browne, according to 
my answers before all the governors, and the distinc- * 
tions and exceptions before them named." 

There is an inherent vitality in the truth, by which 
it is continued through all changes, rising superior 
to every obstacle, and prevailing over its enemies, 
and, what is more remarkable, advancing in its 
course, notwithstanding the defection of friends. 

The cause of the Separatists had sustained what 
appeared to be a most signal defeat. The great 
Puritan party had also suffered from the violence 



34 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

of persecution, and to meet the storm they were 
compelled to act with extreme caution. They 
retained their places in the establishment wherever 
it was practicable, but formed a church within a 
church, to avoid the practical inconsistency of recog- 
nizing the mixed multitude in a parochial assembly, 
as a company of true Christian believers. The zeal 
of the Separatists created difficulties in this tempo- 
rizing policy, and the leaders of the party did not 
conceal their displeasure. The sister-in-law of 
Cartwright (Mrs. Stubbs) was induced to join the 
society of the Separatists, though deprived of minis- 
terial instruction. Her conduct, in this particular, 
was strongly disapproved by her brother. She 
could pretend to no polemical skill, like that which 
had been practised in so many theological encount- 
ers. Yet, notwithstanding the disparity in their 
controversial ability, Mrs. Stubbs was ready to give 
*a reason for her choice and Christian practice. 

" I am moved, sister, by the mutual bond between 
us," said Cartwright, " to use some persuasion with 
you to communicate with us in the worship of God." 

Sister. The people of God are a peculiar people 
to the Lord, and we may not join with those who 
do not obey the will of Christ. Moreover, the Lord 
is one, and the people of God cannot be divided, 
some with and some not with Him. 

Cartivright. As if your unity with Christ and 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 35 

separation from all who are without were not here 
imperfect, and only to be perfected when Christ 
shall make a final separation between the sheep and 
the goats. You have not yet proved that we are 
the Babylonians, from whom you, the only Jews 
forsooth in the world, are bound to separate. 

Sister, You are not the church, not being formed 
in obedience to the law of Christ. 

Cartioright. Our obedience is imperfect, so is 
also our faith ; and therefore we are not to be shut 
from the church for our defective obedience. 

Sister. I believe ; Lord, help mine unbelief. But 
what is this to your presumptuous sins and wilful 
breach of the law of God. 

Cartwright. The prophet prayed in his presump- 
tuous sins. 

Sister. You do unjustly wrest the truth. I am 
commanded by the Lord to come out from among 
them that are not of the church of God, by agree- 
ment of His word. In that you obey not, but resist 
the word of Christ ; neither have you the authority 
to bind and loose. The church of God do elect 
ministers by the free choice of the people of God. 
Every one in godliness and sobriety is to have his 
free choice, and not to have it thrust upon them. 

Cartwright. Most of our ministers are chosen by 
the people. 

Sister. Some do allow this, and some do not. 



36 THE HIDDEN CHITICH. 

Carhcrig-hf. That order is taken from the custom 
in the commonwealth, and the most voices do 
prevail. 

Sister. I think this to be an odd reason by the 
word of God. 

Cartwrig-hf. All churches of God say we are a 
church of God. 

Sister. This is the praise of men, and not of 
God. There is no separation in your churches. 
A great number of both ministers and people have 
no knowledsfe in the true faith ; and vou do not 
come out from among them. This is the separation 
I mean. You have nor the power of Christ to ex- 
communicate any by the lords your bishops ; and 
thence cometh even the power of anticlurist. It 
must needs be Christ or Anticlurist. I know it is 
not Clnrist by his word. 

Carticrig/it. Remember your frailt\- as a woman, 
and the small ordinary means of discerning exactly 
the truth. You have not the truth, because it is not 
taught vou by some pastor under Christ. 

Sister. It is taught by oui Saviour Christ and 
his apostles, and believed of us, and the Lord wiU 
comfortably teach us one of another, if He see good 
and most to 'His own glory. I humbly beseech Him 
that He will bring us together, that we may lead a 
quiet and peaceable life in all godhness and honesty, 
according to the sweet course of the gospel ; and I 



TUE HIDDEN CHURCH. 37 

pray God that we may ever love the truth, and 
increase in the knowledge and obedience thereof, 
howsoever we be separated, yea, although we are 
counted as sheep to the slaughter. 

Carhcright. You are not a church, because there 
are not among you that have the knowledge of the 
tongues wherein the Scriptures are written ; so you 
cannot refute the adversaries. 

Sister. The Scriptures of God are not like men's 
words ; for no man knoweth the mind of a man but 
himself. We see our hearts in the word of God ; 
and I think some of the churches of God have the 
knowledge of tongues. But consider your own 
ministers. The Word saith, not some learned 
among them, but the minister, howsoever your own 
ministers judge in the matter. Truly my heart 
mourneth to see the general hardness of heart, when 
we speak to any that standeth with you. The word 
of God can take no place. You have so strength- 
ened them in then* sins, saying. Peace, peace. You 
can do no way so much evil as to call them the 
church of God, when, according to His word, you 
still stand without. 

Cartwright. I marvel to see the veil of ignorance 
that is over your hearts. You can say nothing to 
my words. 

Sister. Truly I thank the Lord, to whom be all 
the glory. I do not pass for man's judgment. I 



38 THE HIDDEIT CHURCH. 

open unto the Lord in obeying His truth, so far as 
I know, with all my heart. I marvel that you 
say I answer nothing to your words. I should 
gladly rejoice to see you profess the truth in up- 
rightness of heart." 

The style of these close and earnest colloquies is 
a little too quaint for the modern reader, and we 
fear to extend them further, lest we should weary 
attention ; but we know of no method so suited to 
exhibit the heart-life of the people, in whose history 
we are interested, as to listen to their conversation. 
Few, comparatively, clearly understand the distinc- 
tion between the Puritans, and the Separatists who 
gave rise to the Pilgrim fathers. We must introduce 
two interlocutors of the olden time to talk over the 
matter. If their tone should not be agreeable, we 
must excuse the reader, in the expectation of meet- 
ing him in the next chapter. One of these worthies, 
after the fashion of his day, calls himself " Deside- 
rius;" the other is " Miles Micklebound." 

Desid. It is sorrow enough that you prefer the 
Brownists before our Puritan ministers. 

Miles. I have good reason in this case so to do. 
For as they hold it unlawful for our ministers of 
England to have their idolatrous livings, so they 
hold it unlawful for their own and all other livings 
to have them ; but would that they were returned 
to the commonwealth, from whence they were 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 39 

taken. But our Puritan ministers, that wish the 
prelates down, and their livings taken from them, 
would gladly have them for their own use, as you 
likewise pleaded for them ; and I fear they hold it 
no better than sacrilege, if they be otherwise em- 
ployed. I can show you divers ways whereby you 
may discern that the Brownists (as you call them) 
are the best champions to fight the battle, and are 
most likely to win the field. 

Desid. I cannot tell. I am sure they are counted 
a sect, and are everywhere evil spoken of. 

Miles. But the question is, whether it is for evil 
doing, or for well doing? If for well doing, they 
are to bear it patiently, as partakers of the cross and 
sufferings of Christ, whose faithful servants and 
witnesses of old, even the sect of the Nazarenes, 
were everywhere evil spoken of in like sort. But 
did it therefore follow, that they were according 
to the report and esteem that was among men 
concerninof them ? Or should men therefore have 
rejected them, or any good among them ? Let it be 
far from you so to think; and further off, in that 
sort to speak of those former, or yet of these later 
Christians. Christ himself was the chief corner 
stone, whom the builders refused, yet became the 
head of the corner. And surely these men, which 
you and others are ready enough to refuse for help 
in this sorrow, are the most sound and sufficient of 



40 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

any that I know for convicting our common adver- 
saries and terrible opposites, the prelates and lofty- 
clergy of the land. Wherefore I would advise you 
and all never to shun, but diligently to seek, and 
thankfully to receive their help when it may be had ; 
and if we see them to err in any other thing (as 
all men are subject to error), let readiness be showed 
in the spiiit of meekness to help them. Thus shall 
we both please God and comfort one another. 

Desid. Therein you say well. But they condemn 
(as the report goes) not only the best people of the 
land ; but also condemn and forsake the faith pro- 
fessed and maintained here, counting it the faith of 
devils, and professing other faith for themselves. 

Now for my own part, I am not only persuaded, 
but fully assured, through the mercy of God, that 
the faith professed in England, is the true saving 
faith of God's elect ; and if ever they be saved them- 
selves, it must be through the same faith in Christ. 
Therefore, if they be guilty of that report, my soul 
shall have no pleasure in them till they return by 
repentance. For to err in that point is a matter of 
no small importance. 

Miles, That report is - either a mere slander 
raised up of the devil in his instruments for the 
disgi*ace of their cause, or if ever it was spoken by 
any of them, it must be some one very simple, that 
erreth therein through ignorance, or some that are 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 41 

strongly carried with zeal against the false and 
confused order of the church ; and not distinguish- 
ing between order and faith, may happen through 
haste or inconsiderateness, to call the one by the 
name of the other, and so, when they speak of the 
impure faith of the Church of England, may intend 
only the impure and corrupt order that is therein. 

DeHd, If you had not holpen with such a lift, 
they had lain under it for me. But sure such zeal 
is preposterous zeal, and such inconsiderateness is 
heady, rash, and indiscreet carriage, not . agreeing 
with Christianity, not beseeming sobriety. 

Miles. Be it so. Yet can you not justly impute 
that to a whole company which is done by one or 
two, where the rest do not approve it, but are 
against it. And there is no religion wherein there 
are not some that miscarry themselves, either 
through zeal or ignorance, or else in heady, rash, 
and inconsiderate speech. Yet such, as so offend 
among these, are liable to the rebuke of the whole 
Presbytery and church itself, if the case so require, 
and the main difference between them and the 
Church of England is about outward orders and 
ordinances, and the faith possessed by both is one 
and the same. 

Desid. Wherefore are the chief defenders of this 
cause called Brownists? 

Miles. Because one Mr. Browne, minister at a 



4:2 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

chiirch in Norrhaniptonshire. heretofore professed 
their cause, published it in press, and for a time 
continued the practice of it, till the fear of persecu- 
tion and love of this world, like Demas, or of ease 
like Issaehar, made him to turn his back upon it ; 
and yer I tliink (if he were asked), his conscience 
will not surfer liis tongue to say. that it is not the 
truth, although he hath left the relief of Sion to live 
upon the spoils of Babylon. 

DtsUL Were there none that did write for the 
cause before Brown. 

Miles. Yes, verily, the prophets, apostles, and 
Evangelists, have in their authentic writings laid 
down the ground thereof, and upon that ground is 
all their building reared up. and surely settled. 
Moreover, many of the mart]>Ts, both former and 
later have maintained it, as is to be seen in the acts 
and monuments of the church. Tlie separated 
chmrch, whereof Mr. Fitz was pastor, professed and 
practised that cause, before Mr. Brown wrote for 
it. But he being one of the tirst writers in Her 
Majes^k-'s rtwlm, therefore those that followed him 
(or Christ rather, through his means dirtH.ning them 
by Ciod's word) were CviUed Browiiists, as if they 
had been baptized into his name, which were 
falsehood to think, and blasphemy to speak. 

Dt'si(L The name makes them very odious to 
others, and. to sav the truth, it caused me to carr^- 



i 



THE HIDDEN OHFECn. 43 

sonio prejudice againsT them, io the forestallini:: of 
my judgment in the things tliey hold. 

Jir/^>\ There are many that do so, but let not 
the name otVend yon or any : tor there \\ as never 
any truth brought to light, but Satan, through his 
notable eratt and ounning, hath caused some to 
paint it out alter the names of men, that it might 
seem base and contemptible in the eves of all, and 
to be received of none. Hereupon have Christians 
been called Hussites, Huguenots, Lutherans, 
Zuinglians, Calvinists, Puritans, Brownists, and the 
like, but there could be no name more odious than 
was given to our Master Christ himself, whom the 
wicked called Beelzebub, and his ^>eople must (in 
their measure) be partaker of His reproach. Let 
none therel'ore seek to have a good name bv doing 
any evil thing, nor yet, for avoiding a bad name, 
neglect any good that God requires at our hands ; 
neither let any man measure any tiuth by the face 
that foes do set upon it, 

Desid, I perceive by your plea, that if these 
men L^ul their right, they would be acknowledged 
for true Christians, and not be calumniated by the 
name oi Brownists. 

Jliit's. Your perceiving then is good, and your 
words are just and ri^ht, for so tliev ouirht to be 
esteemed. 

Desid. But why then do you so often call them 
so yourself ? 



44 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

Miles. For distinction's sake only, but not at aU 
in reproach ; and if you could always understand 
me, whom I mean when I call them Christians, 
then would I give them no other name. 

Desid. What difference do you put between 
those people called Brownists, and the sincerest 
and best professoi^ of the Gospel called Puritans ? 

Miles. The difference is laid down in few words. 
The former do both hold and practise the truth, and 
separate themselves from the contrary. The latter 
have the truth in speculation only, and either dare 
not, or at least do not, practise it. They neither 
dare, nor do they leave off all the unrighteous ordi- 
nances of antichrist. 

Desid. Some do object against them, their 
manner of receiving the Lord's Supper, as being 
rude, irreverent, malapert, and too presumptuous, — 
sitting upon their seats as if they were Christ's 
comrades ; whereas for more reverence they ought 
to take it kneeling. 

[Miles is taking out his New Testament to defend 
the practice of sitting at the Lord's table by various 
examples ; but as the discussion throws no further 
light upon our subject, we must leave it with him 
and his friend Desiderius to finish at their leisure.] 



III. 

THE PURITANS AND SEPARATISTS. 

Having had the distinction between a Puritan 
and a Brownist explained to us by Miles Nickle- 
bound, it may aid us to better understand the course 
of the Hidden Church, if we glance at the relative 
position of parties at this critical juncture. 

The Puritans were a formidable body, when in 
1572 they formed the first English Presbytery at 
Wans worth (a retired village on the banks of the 
Thames, and four miles from London), and sub- 
mitted their scheme of church discipline to 
parliament. Their leaders, eminent for piety and 
learning, were held in high esteem by the continental 
reformers. Many of the nobility adopted their 
opinions and valued their ministerial services. The 
citizens of London flocked in crowds to hear them 
preach, so long as they retained their pulpits, and 
when, with their brethren in the provinces, they were 
silenced and put under the ban, earnest petitions 
were sent by men of the best social position in the 
country, pleading for their restoration to the 

(45) 



46 THE HIDDEN CHITICH. 

churches from which they had been expelled. The 
spirit of the people may be inferred from the 
" supplication," sent by the parishioners of Alder- 
mary, in the city of London. They say, " of late 
we to our con:ifort did enjoy ]Mr. Field to be our 
preacher, who labored painfully among tis, for the 
space of four years, in preaching the word of God, 
and catechizing our youth, teaching obedience both 
to God and our prince, and keeping us in good 
order. Since his restraint and inhibition, we are 
left as scattered sheep upon the mountains, and 
have none ordinarily to break unto us the bread of 
life ; than which a greater evil caiTJiot come upon us. 
We feel persuaded, that if the matter be fully exam- 
ined, there will be found in him no cause why he 
should be sequestered from us. For we are able to 
witness, even in the presence of Him who seeth all 
hearts, that to our knowledge he ever behaved 
himself wisely and faithfully, as became a true 
minister of Jesus Christ. The things urged against 
him were never hindered, impugned, or in any way 
resisted by him, but were duly kept and preserved. 
And seeing that which he received was out of our 
purses, without any burden upon the chm-ch what- 
ever, we cannot help feeling oiu^elves hardly treated, 
that, without cause, he should be taken from us." * 

♦ MS. Register, p. 2S5. 



I 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 47 

Fuller says oi the early Puiirans, *^ ^Vhat won 
them most repute was their uiiuisters' painful 
preaehing, ir being observed in England, that those 
who hold the helm of the pulpit, always stir the 
people's heart as they please." 

To this groNving moral resistanee on the part of 
the people to thek ai'bitrary measures, the hierarchy 
opposed enactments oi greater severity. AYhitgift, 
who was called the "black husband" of the queen, 
could always rely on the utmost stretch of the royal 
prerogative to support his plans of coercion. Inde- 
pendent representatives in parliament, who protested 
against his measures, were arrested and kept in 
prison at the pleasure of the court. When the laws 
failed to supply the fitting instrument o^ repression, 
a proclamation was issued to improvise mandates, 
having the force of statutes, without their formality. 
The imperious will of Elizabeth secured for the 
prelates an ascendency which no combination, 
secret or open, could prevent. 

The struggle of the Puritans against their ecclesi- 
astical opponents, for a time, was conducted with 
great energy and skill ; but gradually they were 
brolvcn, and so disheartened that they sank helplessly 
into the shade. 

Bishop Horn, reporting the triumph of the crosier, 
says the " mischievous men who drew the people 



48 THE HIPDEy CHmCH. 

into what they called piirit\-, are now silenced, 
skulk about, and are become of no importance." 

The cedars were broken, but the vine still found 
room to grow. 

'• When man would raise upon earth something to 
shade him, or to shelter him. see what preparations, 
"what materials, scaliblding, and workmen, what 
hewing and digging, and heaps oi rubbish. But 
God, when it so pleases him, takes the smallest 
grain of seed that a new-born babe could grasp in 
its tiny hand, puts it into the bosom of the earth ; 
and from this grain, which lies at tirst unnoticed, 
produces that immense tree, beneath whose shade 
the families oi mankind may tind shelter. The 
doing of great things by imperceptibly small means, 
such is the rule wirh God." * 

A more feeble, or a more despised people, than 
the Separatists of the sixteenth centiu^-, it would be 
ditHcult to tind, except in the priiuitive Christians, 
who were regarded as the •* tilth and otfseouring of 
all things." But indeed they were fax weaker than 
the members of the apostolic cluurches. At the time 
of which we are writing, they had no leaders either 
to instruct them, or to vindicate their cause. The 
contempt of the proud was upon them without stint, 

* Merle D'Aubigne. 



THE niPDEN CHTTRCn. 49 

and every one who had the dei^ire io keep a decent 
reputation, shunned them as the plague. We have 
seen that, by the term separation, they meant no more 
than the inspired apostle, when he said, ''Be ye 
separate ; " but their adversaries insisted on separat- 
ing them as rigiii sehismatics, who would recognize 
neither truth nor piety, except witliin their own 
narrow circles. 

There were no ancient monuments of past glory 
to which they could point like the Roman Catholics ; 
they had no friends of distinction at home, or in 
foreign countries, from \\hom they could receive 
either success or the assurances of fraternal sympa- 
thy ; but poor, tried, and afllicted, they stood alone, 
and were not reckoned as of any account by any 
parties. Yet, beneath the eye of the good Shepherd, 
they wont fonvard in faith and hope. 

Their track is so obscure at this period that they 
would bo lost altogether to our view, if they had 
not boon at intervals surprised in their meetings for 
worship. The suburbs of London were to a great 
extent covered with woods. Here and there plots 
of ground wore enclosed as gardens to supply the y 

markets oii the city. The Separatists found in 
some of the owners, friends who were ready to 
roooivo them to the " garden house " for worship, 
in the colder months of the year; and in summer 
they loft their homes, early on the Sabbath morning. 



50 THE HIDDEX CHURCH. 

to meet in some sequestered dell to read the Scrip- 
tures, offer their free and unpremeditated comments, 
and unite in fervent prayer. The simple repast of 
which they partook in common was scarcely an 
interruption, and so they spent the day, returning 
in the evening, after making a collection for the 
relief of their brethren in bonds. 



IV. 

SEPARATIST PEIXCIPLES FROM TIIE PRISONS. 

" Where do you assemble ? '' said Prefect Rusti- 
eius to Jnstiii Martyr. " Wherever," replied Justin, 
*'it suits each one's preference and ability. You 
take for granted that we all meet in the same 
place ; but it is not so, for the God of the Chris- 
tians is not circumscribed by place, but, being 
invisible, fills heaven and earth, and is everywhere 
worshiped and glorified by the faithful." Rustl- 
cius then said, '* Tell me where you meet together, 
or in what place you collect your disciples ? " 
Justin said : " I am staying at the house of one 
INlartinus, and I know of no other place of worship 
besides ; if any one wished to come to me, I com- 
municated to him the words of truth."' 

This example of the church in the house is only 
one of innumerable instances to be found in times 
of persecution. Every place, to those who worsiiip 
God in spirit and in truth, is hallowed ground. 

Let us turn to an interesting scene in the baro- 

" (51) 



52 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

nial hall at Rochford in Essex. Lord Rich and his 
family, with the servants of the household, are 
assembled for evening prayers. The company is 
somewhat larger than we usually find in a domestic 
establishment. Several of the poorer neighbors are 
present and sitting amongst them. We see Mr. But- 
ler of Tooby, Lord Grey, and other members of 
aristocratic families in the vicinity. Prayer is 
offered by Mr. Wright, the Puritan chaplain, assist- 
ed by Mr. Greenwood, B. A. The servants are 
catechized, an expository lecture is given, and it is 
intimated by Lord Rich that all present, who are 
sincere believers in Christ, may have an opportu- 
nity to form themselves into a church under the 
pastoral care of Mr. Wright. 

This incident, in 1580, as regards John Green- 
wood, may be regarded as a transitionary step from 
the Puritans to the Separatists. Robert Wright, 
from the time of leaving Cambridge, had never felt 
satisfied with the Anglican order of service, and to 
obtain ordination, more scriptural in his view, he 
went to Antwerp, and joined CartwTight and other 
Puritans in the church, of which Secretary Davison 
was an elder. After a brief ministry at Vilvord, 
he returned to his native country, but the service 
to which he was invited, by Lord Rich, he requested 
to decline, for want, as he said, " of audacity and 
utterance." 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 53 

The Bishop of London was greatly incensed on 
hearing of the services to which we have referred, 
and complained bitterly that he could not come 
by " Wright, sheltered in the house of Lord Rich, 
unless he sent a pov/er of men to pull him out by 
the ears." Ultimately, the Bishop succeeded in his 
purpose, and while he sent Wright to the Fleet, he 
committed Lord Rich to the Marshalsea. The suffer- 
ings of Wright broke his spirit. On the 11th of 
September, 1582, the Bishop, in a letter to Lord 
Burghiey, says : " Whereas Mr. Wright, now a 
prisoner in the Gatehouse, hath willingly subscribed 
to the good allowance of the Ministry of England, 
and the book of common prayer (as I take it), unto 
which both points, if he can be content with his 
friends, to stand bound in a good round sum, that, 
from henceforth, he shall neither commit in writ- 
ing, or preach any thing contrary to the same ; I, 
for my part, do not mislike that he shall have some 
favor, so that Her Majesty be privy thereunto." * 

What happened to the ministerial associate of 
Wright, under these circumstances, we do not learn ; 
but one thing is certain, the trials and changes to 
which his patron and friend were subjected, did not 
move him from his steadfastness. When we last 
saw him it was in the mansion of a Christian noble- 
man, and engaged in service perfectly congenial. 

* Lansdowne MS., Vol. 36, art. 19, p. 141. 



54 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

We turn now to another scene, and one entirely 
contrasted. On the south bank of the Thames, 
and near the foot of London Bridge, stood the 
palace of the Bishop of Winchester, and at the end 
of an adjoining park was the prison, used by the 
bishop for the subjugation of persons of refractory 
conscience, as well as for other purposes. The 
kennel for his dogs was kept in a far less offensive 
condition. Enter through the iron gate and look 
into this wretched duns^eon. The stench is odious, 

^ the air is pestilential, and the filthiness of every 
part of it most revolting, but all this is as nothing 
in comparison with the diseased and abandoned 
people who have been crammed within its walls. 
There they lie huddled together in litters of straw, 
felons, murderers, maniacs, men and women of the 
vilest character, without order and without disci- 
pline, and amongst them, though not of them, 
stands the scholar, the Christian, the faithful and 
devoted minister, John Greenwood. 

Will he then be forgotten and forsaken? Will 
none of his old college companions inquu'e after 
his welfare, or again recognize him as one of their 
fraternity ? The Sabbath morning dawns upon 
that dreary cell (Nov. 19, 1586), and with it are 

J connected associations sacred and delightful, not- 
withstanding the horrid spectacle around him, and 
Greenwood thinks of hours spent in earnest dis- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 55 

course, and in more fervent prayer with his faithful 
brother, Henry Barrowe. 

A loud knock at the prison gate, followed by a 
message from the turnkey to announce that " Bar- 
rowe is come to visit his friend," awakens in the 
breast of the prisoner the joy that is caused only by 
such acts of constancy and kindness. 

The interview and mutual greeting, too touching 
for description, we pass over, to recite, in their order, 
subsequent occurrences. 

The faithful brethren were not suffered long to 
express to each other the sentiments of Christian 
affection, and, like David and Jonathan, to strengthen 
their hands in God. 

" You are my prisoner, Mr. Barrowe," said Shep- 
hard, the jailer, and turning to his assistants he 
added, in a tone of authority, " order the boat." 

Barrowe was taken off without delay, and soon 
found himself sailing in the custody of pursui- 
vants on the Thames to Lambeth. There was 
little time for explanation, and the jailer of the 
Clink cared less to give it, from the assurance that 
he would have perfect indemnity. The party 
landed at the palace, passed quickly through the 
gateway, and over the beautiful lawn, to the hall 
in which they found the archbishop sitting on the 
bench with the assistant commissioners. The 
prisoner was commanded to kneel and to answer 



56 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

such questions on oath, concerning his own con- 
duct, as might be put to him. To the oath he 
demurred, and one of those strange inquisitions 
was entered into, so common on such occasions. 

Barrowe was connected with an aristocratic 
family, well known at the court, and he had been 
a student for the legal profession at Gray's Inn. 
H^ told the archbishop that they were acquainted 
with each other at Cambridge, but he received no 
courtesy on this account. 

For the few hours he was detained at Lambeth, 
he would probably occupy the strong room in the 
Lollard's tower, on the walls of w^hich the iron rings 
still remain to which the chains of the martyrs were 
fastened in the preceding reign. He might read 
for his comfort and support the words of Scripture, 
written by them when called to suffer for the testi- 
mony of Jesus. He was sent to prison, and then 
brought up with Greenwood for reexamination ; not 
so much to convict them of any offence, as to 
squeeze out their consciences, and to reduce them 
to the common spiritual vassalage in which 
Puritan leaders were now enthralled. 

For six long years this experiment was tried. 
Protracted torture was inflicted, with alternations of 
tantalizing reUef, that they might be compelled to 
regulate their convictions according to the decrees 
of the high commission. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 57 

They were closely watched in prison, and deprived 
as far as possible of all means and facilities for the 
communication of their sentiments. Yet, by stealth 
they found opportunity to put down their thoughts 
on scraps of paper, which were given to Cicely, Ihe j 

servant of Mr. Greenwood, or to others who brought 
them food, and then sent by a faithful Christian 
friend to Holland to be printed. What can we 
expect as to the evenness of style or niceties of ex- 
pression, in books written under such extreme diffi- 
culties ? 

Their treatises probably will never be reprinted. 
We must therefore be indulged in giving a few 
extracts to indicate the spirit of the men. 

" We profess," they say, " the same faith and 
truth of the gospel, which all the reformed churches 
this day do hold and maintain. We go beyond 
them in the detestation of all popery, and draw 
nearer, in some points, unto Christ's holy order and 
institution." 

They recognized no human infallibility, either in 
churches or in individual Christians. " What can 
be more miserable," they ask, " than to see with 
other men's eyes, and to believe with other men's 
hearts." Of Calvin they said, " We are not to be 
blamed if we suffer ourselves to be pressed with, or 
to follow his writings no further than they are found 
consonant with the word of God." 



58 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

" The word of God is the archetype and ground- 
work of all states, degrees, and actions, both eccle- 
siastical and civil, whereby they must be framed, 
whereby they shall be judged ; no other thing 
standing before the face of the great Judge than 
His own revealed will in His word." 

They disclaimed all intention to effect a reforma- 
tion by external force. " Private members, however 
they ought to refrain and to keep their souls and 
bodies undefiled from all false worship which is 
imposed, suffering in all patient and Christian man- 
ner whatsoever may be inflicted for the same (as 
they that feaj- more to ofiend God than men) ; yet 
ought they not to stretch forth their hand by force 
to the reformation of any public enormities, which, 
by the magistrates, are set up. Yet it is the bounden 
duty of every true-hearted subject and faithful ser- 
vant of God to witness and cry out against all things 
that are exalted against the knowledge of God." 

The course of the Christian, under hostile rulers 
was, in their view, to be that of patient endurance. 
" Obedience must always be in the Lord. If the 
prince demand or command my body or my goods 
in his service, I am to obey them both readily ; only 
I am to look to the outward thing which I do, 
that it be lawful and warranted by the word. If not 
so, I may not obey, but rather his indignation, yea 
death itself." 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 59 

Of the church, they write : " God commandeth 
private men to set up the discipline which Christ 
hath left. The faithful are commanded to gather 
together in Christ's name, with promise of direction 
and protection ; and not only to establish His laws 
and ordinances among them, but faithfully to govern 
His church thereby. 

" No prince or mortal man can make any man a 
member of a church. 

" The Lord calleth them to believe and lay hold 
of Christ Jesus as their alone Saviour ; to honor 
and obey Him, as their anointed King, Priest, and 
Prophet; to submit themselves unto Him in all 
things ; to be reformed, corrected, and governed, and 
directed by His most holy word, vowing their faith- 
ful obedience unto the same, as that shall be revealed 
unto them. By this faith, confession, and profession, 
every member of Christ, from the greatest unto the 
least, without respect of persons, entereth into and 
standeth in the church. 

" The prince himself entereth into the church, and 
is bound to the strict observation and obedience of 
God's laws, in his calling, as well as any other ; and 
is, for any transgression thereof, liable and subject 
to the censures and judgments of Christ in His 
church, which are without partiality or respect of 
persons ; which censures and judgments, if the 
prince contemn, he contemneth against his own 



60 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

soul, and is, therefore, by the same power of Christ, 
to be disfranchised out of the church. Though by 
this sin he loseth his right to be a Christian, or a 
member of his church, yet loseth he not his right to 
be a king or a magistrate, and is so to be held and 
obeyed of all faithful Christians who are His sub- 
jects. 

" Into the church entereth no profane, ignorant, or 
ungodly person. 

" Every particular congregation, being a faithful 
flock, destitute of some minister, for example of a 
pastor, ought to make choice of some faithful 
Christian, of whose virtues, knowledge, judgment, 
fitness, and conversation, according to the rules in 
that behalf prescribed (1 Tim. iii. ; Titus i. ; Acts 
xiv.), they have assured proof and experience in 
some Christian congregation or other where he hath 
lived. Such a one, the whole congregation being 
gathered together in the name of God, with fasting 
and prayer for the especial guidance of His Holy 
Spirit, to be directed to that person whom the Lord 
hath made meet, and appointed for that high char- 
acter and ministry. In which election every par- 
ticular member of the said congregation hath his 
particular interest of assent or dissent, showing his 
reasons of dissent in reverent manner, not disturbing 
the holy and peaceable order of the church. 

" This choice thus made, accepted, and deter- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. * 61 

mined, the elect is to be publicly ordained and 
received, and of the same congregation whereof and 
whereunto he is chosen. 

" The true ministry should be maintained of the 
free, yet dutiful benevolence of the faithful, especially 
of that flock unto which they attend and minister, 
according to the present ability of the one and 
needs of the other. The true sheep and faithful 
people of Christ will not only bestow their earthly 
good, but even their lives, for those that bring unto 
them these heavenly treasures ; that tread out the 
corn and divide the portion unto them that labor 
for and watch over their souls." 

Again we must remind the reader, that these 
prison thoughts were recorded in a place that com- 
bined with the restraints of a dungeon the contagion 
of a pest-house, the vice of a brothel, and the dis- 
tractions of bedlam. Yet what purity and moral 
sublimity of sentiment, what an equal balance of 
correlative duties, what a sense of the beauty of 
order, what calmness and what power ! 

It was under such teaching that our fathers were 
nerved for the conflict, and strengthened to endure. 
We may imagine how inspiring, for example, they 
felt the words of Barrowe to be, when they antici- 
pated the time for the organization of a Christian 
church ; the act so simple and so scriptural, and yet 
so fiercely denounced as one of blind temerity and 



62 ' THE HIDDEX CHURCH. 

of ecclesiastical crime. The prisons, in which these 
noble-minded confessors wrote, have long since been 
levelled with the dust. A few unsightly and black- 
ened ruins alone remain of the palace of the Bishop 
of Winchester, in whose custody they were held. 
But these words will live, and the names of the 
men who uttered them will be cherished in grateful 
remembrance in coming ages, and by multitudes in- 
habiting regions then unknown. We return to the 
narrative. 

It occurred to the bishops in council that a system 
of periodical visitation of the Separatists in prison, 
conducted by the clergy of the city, in rotation, 
would be useful, either to bring them to submission, 
or to glean evidence to be produced against them in 
the event of trial. Their scheme will appear in the 
letter of instructions we subjoin : 

" To our loving friends, Mr. Archdeacon MuUins, 
Doctor Andros, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Hutchinson, and 
the rest of the preachers within named after our 
hearty commendations : 

" I, the Bishop of London, have received order 
from my Lord's Grace of Canterbury, with the 
advice of both the chief justices, that conference 
should presently be had with these sectaries which 
do forsake our church, and be for the same commit- 
ted prisoners ; for that it is intended, if by our good 
and learned persuasions they will not be reduced to 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 63 

conform themselves to their dutiful obedience, that 
they shall be proceeded with, all according to the 
course of common law. 

" Wherefore these are to will and require you, and 
every one of you whose names are mentioned (forty- 
three in number) in the schedule hereunto annexed, 
in Her Majesty's name, and by virtue of her high 
commission for causes ecclesiastical to us and 
others directed ; that twice every week (at the least) 
you do repair to those persons and prisoners (fifty- 
two in number) whose names are in the ticivct set 
down, and that you seek by all learned and discreet 
demeanor you may, to reduce them from their errors ; 
and for that either their conformity or disobedience 
may be made manifest when they shall come unto 
their triak Therefore we require you to set down 
in writing, the particular days of your going to 
confer with them, and likewise your censure what 
it is of them ; as that, if occasion do serve to use it, 
you will be sworn unto ; and for that Dr. Stanhope, 
chancellor to me, the Bishop of London, is gone out 
of the city, therefore we require Mr. MuUins to send 
for all those several preachers, and deliver the names 
of the prisoners, together with the prisons where- 
unto they are assigned to resort, and to require 
them as aforesaid to take the charge upon them, 
according to the trust committed unto them ; and in 
case any of them refuse, that then you require him 



64 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

or them forthwith to repair to me to Fulham, and to 
certify me of their answers before their coming, and 
so we bid you farewell, the 25th of Feb., 1589. 
" Your loving friends, 

"John Loud, 
"John Herbert, 
" Edw. Stanhope, 
" Richard Cosen." 

The duties imposed on these clerical detectives 
were not the most inviting, especially to any of 
them who might retain the sense of Christian honor. 
To act the spy, under the pretence of a visit for the 
spiritual benefit of the prisoner, was not what would 
be at all agreeable to men who would not lose self- 
respect. But they knew well what was meant by 
the alternative, " to repair " to the Lord Bishop at 
Fulham, — and they went to their degrading task. 

"We shall not follow them throuo;h aU their 
rounds. A mere glimpse w^ll be sufficient to show 
the prisoner and visitor in contrast. Mr. Hutchinson 
is appointed to confer with John Greenwood. They 
meet ; but who can describe the peculiar expression 
of countenance with which they exchange saluta- 
tions. Greenwood seems to have some suspicion 
of the errand of his visitor, and stipulates that Mr. 
Calthorpe, a gentleman in the prison, may be present 
as witness, and that he may be furnished wdth pen, 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 65 

ink, and paper to note down the questions and 
replies. These literary luxuries for once are al- 
lowed. 

Before the conference, Mr. Hutchinson gave a 
memorandum to the effect that " he did not examine 
Mr. Greenwood in any way to hurt him, but to 
confer with him about his separating himself from 
the Church of England." Greenwood, on his part, 
prepared a note to state that " he did not desire Mr. 
Hutchinson's company, but was most willing of 
any Christian conference." 

These preliminaries being settled, the polemical 
duel began. 

" All the people," said Greenwood, " by the blow- 
ing of Her Majesty's trumpet at her coronation, were 
in one day received without conversion of life by 
faith and repentance, and they and their children 
generally received to your sacrament without sepa- 
ration from the world. They could not, therefore, 
be rAxh]6ia — a people called out." 

Hutchinson replied : " I know not what you mean 
by separation." 

" You know," Greenwood rejoined, " what bl^ 
badal signifieth ; and as light is separated from 
darkness, so must the church from the profane." 

These few sentences will give you an idea of the 
manner in which the visitors were met. They took 

6* 



66 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

care not to subject themselves to the noxious effluvia 
of the prison. 

When Dr. Andros accompanied Mr. Hutchinson 
to examine Barrowe, the prisoner was sent for to 
meet them in the parlor of the keeper, attended by 
three servants. 

" Your chamber-fellow, Mr. Greenwood, hath told 
you the cause of our coming," said Mr. Hutchin- 
son, blandly. 

Barrowe. " He told me that some had been with 
him yesternight, but told me not the cause of your 
coming unto me this day." 

Hutchinson. " We come to the same end to con- 
fer brotherly with you, concerning certain positions 
that you are said to hold." 

Barrowe. " I deserve nothing more than Christian 
conference, but having been two years and wellnigh 
a half kept by the bishops in close prison, could 
never as yet obtain any such conference where the 
Book of God might peaceably decide all our con- 
troversies." 

Dr. Andros^ in rather a simpering manner, offered 
the prisoner his congratulations on his close confine- 
ment : " For close imprisonment you are most 
happy ; the solitary and contemplative life I hold 
the most blessed life. It is the life I would choose." 

Barrowe. " You speak philosophically, but not 
christianly. So sweet is the harmony of God's 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 67 

graces to me in the congregation and the conversa- 
tion of the saints at all times, that I think myself as 
a sparrow on the house-top when I am exiled from 
them. But could you be content also, Mr. Andros, 
to be kept from exercise and air so long together ? 
These are also necessary to a natural body." 

Barrowe made no complaint, as he might have 
done, of the " facinorous wretches " that would dis- 
turb the most philosophic contemplations. 

Andros. " I say not that I would want air. But 
who be those saints that you speak of, — where are 
they ? " 

Barrowe — waxing rather warm at the stoicism 
of his inquisitor — said : " They are even those poor 
Christians whom you so blaspheme and persecute, 
and now most unjustly hold in your prisons." 

Andros. " But where is their congregation ? " 

Barrowe. " Though I knew, I purposed not to 
tell you." 

Hutchinson, disappointed in his object, became 
excited, and said : " They are a company of sectaries, 
as you also are." 

Barrowe quickly asked : " Know you what a sec- 
tary is ? " ^ 

A discussion arose on the Latin and Greek roots, 
during which a lexicon was sent for ; but Dr. An- 
dros, finding it inconvenient to meet Barrowe on the 
point, changed the subject. 



68 THE HIDDEN CHTRCH. 

" Order," said the doctor, " requireth that you 
should rather begin to dispute about the ministry 
first.'' 

Barrowe observed : '• There must be a sheep be- 
fore there can be a flock, and a flock before there is 
a shepherd." 

Andros replied : " A flock and a shepherd are rela- 
tives." 

Barroice reiterated the sentiment : " There must 
be a flock before there can be a shepherd, because 
the people must choose the pastor." 

Subsequently, when Greenwood was present, the 
old taunt was repeated as to sects : " Sects," said 
one of the visitors, •• are understood of such Brown- 
ists and schismatics as you are." 

Barroice replied : " It is yoiu: custom . to bless 
Christ's enemies and blaspheme Christ's servants. 
We are no Brownists. We hold not our faith in 
respect of any mortal man ; neither were we in- 
structed by him, or baptized into his name, until by 
such as you we were so termed. Schismatics we 
are not. We hold commimion with all Christian 
servants in true faith and love, onlv we have sepa- 
rated ourselves from the false church and false min- 
istry which we have found you to be." 

Greenwood ofl'ered, in substance, the same dis- 
claimer : *' Browne is an apostate, now one of your 
chiurch. You receive all such apostates from Christ. 



THE niPPEx curKcn. 69 

AYe never had any thing to do with Browne, neither 
are wo members of your church/' \ 

The visitors returned to make their report ; and 
Barrowe, with his companion Greenwood, also made 
known their state to Lord Burghley. 



V. 

ELECTION OF CHURCH OFFICERS. 

The detachment of the persecuted company of 
Christian believers, meeting in the fields and woods, 
from the religious teachers of their time, seems to 
have been necessary to prepare them for the exami- 
nation of first principles as contained in the New 
Testament. It was scarcely possible for men w^ho 
had been trained in the ecclesiastical systems, formed 
under the influence of national establishments, to 
escape from traditional and conventional peculiari- 
ties. They were so accustomed to artificial supports 
for the church, that they had the feeling of men who 
supposed the sky must fall unless pillars were raised 
by the hand of man to keep it in its position. The 
" fewest of all people," and the meanest in worldly 
estimation, were chosen in Providence to form the 
Christian church after the primitive model, pure and 
simple as on the day the Lord Jesus ascended into 
heaven. Ministers were raised up to take the over- 
sight of them, who had received the highest intel- 

(70) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 71. 

lectual training ; but not until their original clerical 
pretensions had been broken down, like the pharisaic 
pride of Saul of Tarsus, by the force of truth and 
outward discipline of the severest nature. The 
seed-corn was but a handful, made still less by the 
process of winnowing. 

If a stranger could have witnessed the humble 
gathering of people in the house of Roger Rippon 
in Southwark, or at the dwelling of " one Fox " in 
Nicolas Lane, met for the solemnities of an ordina- 
tion, he must have been struck with their peculiar 
simplicity. 

In 1592, the brethren were convened to complete 
their church organization. The probability is, that 
several meetings were held for this purpose in differ- 
ent places besides those just mentioned, amongst 
others at " Mr. Lee's," near Smithfield, " in a house 
near Aldgate," and in a garden-house at St. George's 
in the Fields. 

The doors are closed, and for a few moments 
there is profound stillness. Greenwood is here, 
being out on bail for the night. The effects of his 
long imprisonment are too evident in his wasted 
frame and pallid countenance ; but his eye gleams 
with interest and tenderness as he looks around, for- 
getting all the sufferings of the past in the gladness 
of the occasion. With him are two younger brethren 
of the University of Cambridge, Francis Johnson 



72 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

and John Penry, matured in experience above their 
years. The choice of the church, expressed by their 
open suffrage, falls on Greenwood for the office of 
" doctor,*' or teacher. He is prevented by the re- 
straints of imprisonment from taking the pastoral 
office and its active duties ; but it is thought that 
he may instruct the church by his WTitiiigs or by 
counsel even when in bonds. The brethren are 
not ashamed of his " chain " ; they look upon it as 
" the mark in his body of the Lord Jesus." 

It is expected that Francis Johnson, prior to his 
call, by the vote of the church, will give some ac- 
count of his spiritual history and of his doctrinal 
views. The record of this confession is not before 
us, but from other sources of information we learn 
something of its outline. 

" Brethren and companions in the faith and 
patience of our Lord Jesus. I greet you all in His 
blessed name. For a long time I was greatly op- 
posed tcTthis way. So much so, that when in Holland 
I went to the printing-office in Dort, at the instance 
of the English ambassador, to destroy the books 
written by our brethren, Henry Barrowe and John 
Greenwood. In my blind zeal against their cause, 
I destroyed aU the copies, save two, one of which I 
gave to a friend, and the other I read to my own 
conviction. In obedience to that conviction, I come 
to you from Holland to acknowledge my brethren 
in bonds, and to cast in my lot amongst you." 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 73 

Every heart is thrilled in listening to this simple 
statement, and to the declaration of faith given in 
addition. Johnson is chosen pastor. 

The impression produced by Penry on the assem- 
bly, if possible, is still deeper. It is known that a 
price is set upon his head. For many months he 
sought shelter in the glens of Scotland ; but, at the 
imperious demand of Queen Elizabeth, King James 
issued a decree forbidding any of his subjects to 
aftord the fugitive either harbor or food on pain of 
d^ath. Yet, knowing the wrath of the queen and 
the determination of the prelates to compass his 
death, he has journeyed from the extreme north of 
the island to London, in order to identify himself 
with this lowly band of confessors, now in the course 
of organization as a church of Christ. " I can 
accept no office amongst you, brethren, except- to 
be the servant of all ; for my purpose, if God shall 
give me opportunity, is to go before the queen, as 
with the halter round my neck, to plead that the 
gospel may be preached to my countrymen of 
Wales." The brethren do not press official distinc- 
tion or responsibility on their devoted brother, after 
this touching avowal of his sacred determination. 
They are content to appoint Christopher Bowman 
and Nicolas Lee as deacons, with Daniel Studley 
and George Kniston as elders. 

7 



74 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Seven infants are now presented by their parents 
for the ordinance of Christian baptism. 

Brought as within the verge of heaven by these 
hallowed solemnities, and conscious of oneness in 
faith, in affection, and in purpose, they close the 
religious exercises of the evening by the administra- 
tion of the Lord's Supper. How simple is the mode 
of preparation. A white cloth is spread upon the 
table. Five loaves are placed upon it, with the 
sacramental cup. The words of the institution, as 
given by our Lord Jesus on the night of the betrayal, 
are read. The pastor, with deep feeling, gives utter- 
ance to sentiments suited to the ordinance. The 

• 

elements are distributed with becoming order, and 
a collection is made for the poor. Truly they sit 
together as " Christ's comrades," with the freedom 
of brethren, and yet with the reverence of disciples. 
In a low voice they sing the sacramental hymn, 
interrupted only by the overpowering emotions 
which constrain them to weep aloud in their solemn 
joy. To some of them it is the first and the last 
service of communion with the church on earth. 
They will meet the brethren after this manner no 
more, until they sit down at the marriage supper of 
the Lamb. Well may they linger ; but the voice 
again is heard as in the Guest Chamber in Jerusa- 
lem, " Arise, let us go hence." 



VI. 

ARRESTED CHURCH-MEMBERS.— BARROW'S LETTER. 



The proceedings of the newly-formed church, not- J^-^^^^^f. 
withstanding the caution exercised to keep them : 

secret, did not long escape the attention of the ?^|<*'p; 
authorities. John Greenwood, for a time, was suf- 0,.¥>»^^ 
fered to lodge out of prison " within the rules," and, 
with Francis Johnson, he took up his abode at the 
house of Mr. Boyes, at Ludgate Hill. On the night 
of the 5th of December both of them were seized 
by the pursuivants, and thrown into " close prison." 
A few months afterward (March 4, 1592-3), the 
members of the church were surprised at a meeting, 
held on the spot where the Christians met during 
the Marian persecution, in the woods at Islington. 

Fifty-six were taken prisoners, and sent, " two by 
two," to the jails of London, already crowded with 
the victims of intolerance. Silenced from preach- 
ing, they uttered remonstrances seldom exceeded in 
pathos or in force. 

" Are we malefactors ? " they demanded. " Arc 

(75) 



aX 



76 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

we anywise undutiful to our prince ? Maintain we 
any , errors ? Let us, then, be judicially convicted 
thereof, and delivered to the civil authority. We 
humbly pray, in tlie name of God and our sovereign 
the queen, that we may have the benefit of the laws 
and of the public charter of the land, namely, that 
we may be received to bail till we, by order of law, 
are convicted of some crime deserving of bonds. 
We plight unto your honors our faith unto God, 
and our allegiance to Her Majesty, that we will not 
commit any thing unworthy of the gospel of Christ, 
or to the disturbance of the common peace and good 
order of the land, and that we will be forthcoming 
at such reasonable warning as your Lordships shall 
command. Oh, let us not perish before trial and 
judgment, especially imploring and crying out to 
you for the same." 

It was time to protest against the v^a'ongs they 
endured. Sixteen had died in succession of the 
prison plague. Roger Rippon became the seven- 
teenth victim. Others were sinking from want. 
Barrowe, for his companions in bonds, says : " Some 
of us had not one penny about us when we were 
sent to prison, nor any thing to procure a mainte- 
nance for ourselves and families, but our handy 
labor and trades, by which means not only we our- 
selves, but our families ajid children are undone and 
starved. That which we crave for us all is, the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 77 

liberty to die openly, or live openly in the land of 
our nativity. If we deserve death, let us not be 
closely murdered, yea starved to death with hunger 
and cold, and stifled in loathsome dungeons." 

These reiterated appeals were not altogether with- 
out effect. The bishops were compelled to give some 
show of legality to their proceedings by bringing 
the prisoners to open trial. To obtain evidence that 
might be adduced against them in court, they sub- 
mitted the prisoners taken at Islington to personal 
inquisition. The report of these examinations is 
still preserved, and though the sufferers derived no 
relief at the time, it supplies facts for the vindication 
of their memory. Daniel Buck, a scrivener in South- 
wark, seems to have been one of the most commu- 
nicative witnesses. " Being asked, what vow or 
promise he had made, when he came first into their 
society, he answered he made this protestation, that 
he would walk with the rest of the congregation as 
long as they did walk in the way of the Lord, and 
as far as might be warranted by the word of God. 
Being demanded, whether a motion had been made 
by some of their fraternity, that they should go 
somewhere into the country, whereby they might 
be in more safety, — denieth that he had heard of 
any such matter ; but saith, he had heard one Miller 
(a preacher at St. Andrews Undershaft, Holborn) 
say, that if they did maintain the truth, they should 



78 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

not keep themselves in corners, but show themselves 
publicly, and defend the same ; but he thought that 
unfit, lest it might be a means to sth* a rebellion." 

When the evidence of this kind had been collected, 
Barrowe, Greenwood, Saxio Bellot, gentleman, Daniel 
Studley, girdler, and Robert Bowie, fishmonger, were 
indicted at the sessions in Old Bailey, 21st of March, 
1592-3, upon the Statute of 23 Eliz., for writing and 
publishing sundry seditious books and pamphlets, 
tending to the slander of the queen's government. 
Happily, for the sake of truth, we have, in a letter 
from Barrowe to a " certain countess of his kindred," 
an account of the proceedings. His statement is 
so necessary to a correct view of the case, that we 
give it entire. 

" To the Right Honorable, etc. Though it be no 
new or strange doctrine unto you. Right Honorable 
and excellent Lady, who have been so educated and 
exercised in the faith and fear of God, that the cross 
should be joined to the gospel, tribulation and per- 
secution to the faith and profession of Christ, yet 
may this seem strange unto you, and almost incred- 
ible, that, in a land professing Christ, such cruelty 
should be offered unto the servants of Christ for the 
truth and gospel's sake, and that by the chief minis- 
ters of the church, as they pretend. 

" This no doubt doth make sundry, otherwise well 
affected, to think hardly of us and of our cause ; 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 79 

and specially, finding us by their instigation indicted, 
arraigned, and ready to be executed by the secular 
powers, for moving sedition and disobedience, for 
defaming the renowned person and government of 
our most gracious sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, and 
this state. But, right honorable, if our adversaries' 
proceedings, and our sufferings, with the true causes 
thereof, might be duly examined by the Scriptures, 
I doubt not but their malice and our innocency 
should easily appear to all men ; however, now they 
think to cover the one and the other, by adding 
slander unto violence. 

" Your Ladyship readeth, that the holy prophets, 
who spake in the name of God, yea, our blessed 
Saviour himself and his apostles, have suffered like 
usage, under the same pretence of sedition, innova- 
tion, rebellion against Caesar and the state, at the 
hands and by the means of the chief ministers of that 
church, the priests, scribes, and Pharisees ; men of 
no less account for holiness, learning, and authority 
than these our adversaries. 

" The faithful of all ages since, that have wit- 
nessed against the malignant synagogue of antichrist, 
and stood for the gospel of Christ, have suffered 
like usage at the hands of the same prelacy and 
clergy that now is in the land, though possessed of 
other persons. The quarrel still remaineth betwixt 
the two opposite kingdoms of Christ and antichrist, 



80 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

and so long shall endure as any part of the apos- 
tasy and usurped tyranny of the man of sin shall 
remain. The apostasy and tyranny of antichrist, 
as it sprung not at once or in a day, but by degrees 
wrought from his mystery to his manifestation and 
exaltation in his throne, so was he not at once 
wholly discovered or abolished ; but as Christ, from 
time to time, by the beams of his appearing, dis- 
covered the iniquity, so by the power of his word, 
which cannot be made of none effect, doth he 
abolish the same ; and shall not cease this war until 
antichrist, with his army, power, and ministry, be 
wholly cast out of the chm'ch. Assurance and 
manifest revelation hereof we have, both in general 
and particular, in that historical prophecy given of 
Christ unto his church by John the divine, in the 
book of the Revelation, from the tenth to the twen- 
tieth chapter ; proof and accomplishment hereof, we 
have hitherto found in the abolishing of all the 
errors, idolatries, trumperies, and forgeries discovered 
and witnessed against by the faithful servants of 
Christ in former ages. Neither is there cause why 
we should doubt of the like sequel and event in 
the present and future times, seeing the enormities 
remaining are no less hateful to God, and contrary 
to the kingdom of Christ ; and God, that condemnefh 
them, is a strong God to execute his will, which no 
opposition or tyi*anny of his adversaries shall be able 
to hinder or resist. 



THE HIDDEN CHUKCH. 81 

" Whiles then we be, in the mercy of God, holding 
the most holy and glorious cause of Christ against 
them, that he might reign in his church by such 
officers and laws as he hath prescribed in his testa- 
ment, we fear not our adversaries in any thing, 
knowing that their malice and opposition herein is 
made to them a token of perdition, and to us of 
salvation, and that of God. For this we are bold, 
both to stand for the holy ministry, government, and 
ordinances of Christ prescribed in his word, and also 
to withstand and witness against this antichristian 
hierarchy of the prelacy and clergy of this land, in 
their ministry, ministration, government, courts, offi- 
cers, canons, etc., which I, by writing, have showed 
to have no ground or warrant in God's word ; not to 
be given, or to belong unto the church of Christ, but 
to be invented by man ; the very same that the pope 
still useth, and erewhile used and left in this land, 
the like others of us more learned have offered, and 
do still offer, upon the dispense of our lives, and to 
prove by the express word of God, in any Christian 
and peaceable conference, against any whosoever 
that will there stand for the defence of the same. 

" The prelates, seeing the axe thus laid to the root 
of the tree of their pomp, not able to prove their 
ministry, ministration, and government which they 
usurp and exercise in the church by the Scriptures, 
sought to turn away this question, and to get rid of 



82 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

their adversaries, by other subtle and hostile prac- 
tices, as at the first, by shutting up the chief of us 
in their close prisons ; by defaming us in their 
pulpits, printed books, and sparsed libels in the 
land ; by seeking to inveigle us with certain subtle 
questions to bring our lives into danger ; by suborned 
conferences with certain of their select instruments ; 
not to speak of their manifold molestations and 
cruel usage at their commandment showed us in the 
prisons. To their reproachful and slanderous books, 
being set of God, though most unworthy, and suf- 
fering for the defence of the faith, and being thus 
provolved by them, I held it my duty, according to 
the small measure of grace received, to make answer, 
which I also did more than three years since. Like- 
wise, to deliver ourselves from the false report and 
witness that might be made against us in those 
conferences, we thought good to publish them to the 
land. For these books, written more than three 
years since, after well near six years' imprisonment 
sustained at their hands, have these prelates, by 
their vehement suggestions and accusal ions, caused 
us to be now indicted, arraigned, and condemned 
for writing and publishing seditious books, upon the 
same statute made the 23d year of Her Majesty's 
reign. Their accusations were drawn into these heads : 
" First. That I should write and publish the 
Queen's Majesty to be unbaptized. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 83 

" Secondly. The state to be wholly corrupted from 
the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, in the 
laws, judgments, judges, customs, etc., so that none 
that feared God could live in peace therein. 

" Thirdly. That all the people in the land are infi- 
dels. 

" To these indictments I answered generally, that 
either they were mistaken, or else misconstrued ; 
neither in my meaning, matter, or words, any such 
crime could justly be found; my meaning being 
just, and without evil toward any man, much 
more toward my sovereign and the state, whom I 
from the heart honored. The matters, being merely 
ecclesiastical, controverted betwixt the clergy and 
us ; my words being either in answer of their slan- 
ders, or in assertion of such things as I hold ; that 
if I had offended in any of my words, it was rather 
casual through haste, than of any evil intent. 

" More particularly to the first, concerning the 
queen's baptism, I answered, that it was utterly 
mistaken, both contrary to my meaning and to my 
express words in that place of my book, as mani- 
festly appeareth to any indifferent reader. 

^' That I there purposely defended Her Majesty's 
baptism received, against such as hold the baptism 
given in popery to be no baptism at all ; where I 
proved that it needed not to be repeated ; yet there 
I also showed such baptism, given in popery, not to 



84 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

seal God's covenant to the church in that estate ; 
and therefore that the abuse ought, by all that had 
there received it, to be repented. 

" To the second indictment, I showed the words 
by me used to be drawn from Isaiah i. and Rev. xiii., 
that I had no evil mind toward the state, laws, or 
judges, but only showed that when the ministry, 
the salt, the light is corrupted, the body and all the 
parts must needs be unsound, which I immediately, 
in the same place of that book, showed by the gen- 
eral breach of the laws of both Tables, by all estates, 
degrees, persons, etc., setting down the particulars. 

" To the third indictment, I answered, that I gladly 
embraced and believed the common faith received 
and professed in this land, as most holy and sound ; 
that I had reverend estimation of sundry, and good 
hope of many thousands in the land ; though I ut- 
terly disliked the present constitution of this church, 
in the present communion, ministry, ministration, 
worship, government, and ordinances ecclesiastical 
of these cathedral and parishional assemblies. 

" Some other few things such as they thought 
might most make against us, were culled out of my 
writings, and urged, as that I should hold Her 
Majesty to be antichristian, and her government 
antichristian. 

" To which I answered, that it was with great 
and manifest injury so collected; seeing in sundry 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 85 

places of that book, and everywhere in all my 
writings and sayings, I have protested my exceed- 
ing good opinion and reverend estimation of Her 
Majesty's royal person and government, above all 
other princes in the world, for her most rare and 
singular virtues and endowments. I have every- 
where in my writings acknowledged all duty and 
obedience to Her Majesty's government, as to the 
sacred ordinance of God, the supreme power he hath 
set over all causes and persons, whether ecclesiastical 
or civil, within her dominions ; always desiring to 
be intended (understood) of this false ecclesiastical 
government, foreign power, canons, and courts, 
brought in and usurped by the prelates and their 
accomplices. 

" Bilt these answers, or whatsoever else I could 
say or allege, prevailed nothing ; all things being so 
hardly construed and urged against me (no doubt 
through the prelates' former instigations and ma- 
licious accusations). So that I, with my four other 
brethren, were the 23d of the third month (1592-3) 
condemned and adjudged to suffer death as felons, 
upon these indictments aforesaid. Upon the 24th, 
early in the morning, was preparation made for our 
execution ; we brought out of the limbo, our irons 
smitten off, and we ready to be bound to the cart, 
when Her Majesty's most gracious pardon came for 
our reprieve. 



8$ THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

" After that, the bishops sent unto us certain doc- 
tors and deans to exhort and confer with us. We 
showed how they had neglected the time ; we had 
been weUnigh six years in their prisons ; never 
refused, but always humbly desired of them Christian 
conference, for the peaceable discussing and deciding 
our differences, but could never obtain it at their 
hands ; neither did these men, aU this time, come 
unto us, or offer any such matter ; that our time was 
short in this world, neither were we to bestow it 
unto controversies, so much as unto more profitable 
and comfortable considerations ; yet, if they desired 
to have conference with us, they were to get our 
lives respited thereunto ; then, if they would join 
unto us two other of our brethren in their prisons, 
whom we named unto them, we then gladly would 
condescend to any Christian and orderly conference, 
by the Scriptures, with such or so many of them as 
should be thought meet. 

" Upon the last day of the third month, my brother 
Greenwood and I were very early and secretly con- 
veyed to the place of execution ; where, being tied 
by the necks to the tree, we were permitted to speak 
a few words. We there, in the sight of that Judge 
that knoweth and searcheth the heart, before whom 
we were then immediately to appear, protested our 
loyalty and innocency toward Her Majesty, our 
nobles, governors, magistrates, and this whole state ; 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 87 

that in our writings we had no malicious or evil 
intent, so much as in thought, toward any of these, 
or toward any person in the world ; that wherein we 
had through zeal, or unadvisedly, let fall any word 
or sentence that moved offence, or carried any show 
of irreverence, we were heartily sorry, and humbly 
besought pardon of them so offended for the same. 
Further, we exhorted the people to obedience and 
hearty love of their prince and magistrates, to lay 
down their lives in their defence against all enemies; 
yea, at their hands meekly and patiently to receive 
death, or any punishment they shall inflict, whether 
justly or unjustly. We exhorted them, also, unto 
orderly, quiet, and peaceable walking within the 
Kmits of their own calling, to the holy fear and true 
worship of God. 

" For the books written by us, we exhorted all 
men no further to receive any thing therein con- 
tained, than they should find sound proof of the 
same in the Holy Scriptures. Thus craving pardon 
of all men whom we had any way offended, and 
freely forgiving the whole world, we used prayer for 
Her Majesty, the magistrates, people, and even for 
our adversaries ; and having both of us almost 
finished our last words, behold one was even at that 
instant come with a reprieve for our lives from Her 
Majesty, which was not only thankfully received of 
us, but with exceeding rejoicing and applause of all 



1 



88 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

the people, both aft the place of execution, and in 
the way, streets, and houses as we returned. 

" Thus pleased it God to dispose the utmost vio- 
lence of our adversaries, to the manifestation of our 
innocency, concerning the crimes whereof we were 
accused and condemned ; and not only so, but also 
to the further showing forth of Her Majesty's princely 
clemency, rare vhtue, and Christian care of her 
faithful subjects, to the yet further manifesting of 
her renowned fame and love amongst all her people. 
And sure we have no doubt but the same, our 
gracious God, that hath wrought this marvellous work 
in Her Majesty's princely heart, to cause of her own 
accord and singular wisdom, even before she knew 
our innocency, twice to stay the execution of that 
rigorous sentence, will now much more, after so 
assured and wonderful demonstration of our inno- 
cency, move Her gracious Majesty freely and fully 
to pardon (prevent) the execution thereof, as she 
that never desired, and always loathly shed the 
blood of her greatest enemies, much less will she 
now of her loyal Christian and innocent subjects ; 
especially if Her Majesty might be truly informed, 
both of the things that are passed, and of our lam- 
entable estate and great misery wherein we now 
continue in a miserable place and case, in the loath- 
some jail of Newgate, under tliis heavy judgment, 
every day expecting execution. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 89 

" Hereunto if God shall move your noble heart, 
right virtuous lady, not for any worldly cause (which 
for my present reproach and baseness I dare not 
mention to your honor), so much as for the love 
and cause of Christ which we, through the grace of 
God, profess; to inform Her Majesty of our entire 
faith unto God, unstained loyalty to Her Highness, 
innocency and good conscience toward all men ; 
in pardoning our offence and judgment, or else in 
removing our poor worn bodies out of this miserable 
jail (the horror whereof is not to be spoken unto 
your honor), to some more honest and meet place, 
if she vouchsafe us longer to live. Your Ladyship 
doubtless shall herein do a right Christian and 
gracious act, acceptable to God, behooveful to your 
sovereign prince, comfortable to us the poor con- 
demned prisoners of Christ, yea, to his whole afflicted 
church, and, most of all, to your own praise and 
comfort in this life and in the life to come. Here- 
unto further to exhort your honor, by the examples 
of the godly of like condition, in such times of 
public distresses and danger, I hope I need not so 
much as to stir up that good gift and grace of God 
which is in you, not to neglect or put from you this 
notable occasion sent unto you from God, to show 
forth the naturalness of your faith unto Him, of 
your fidelity to your prince, of your love to the 
members of Christ in distress, whom as you succor 



8* 



90 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

or neglect herein, so assure yourself will Christ in 
His glory esteem it as done, or denied to be done, by 
you to His own sacred person. 

" Let not, therefore, right dear and elect lady, any 
worldly or politic impediments or unlikelihoods, no 
fleshly fears, diflidence or delays, stop or hinder you 
from speaking to Her Majesty on our behalf, before 
she go out of this city, lest we, by your default 
herein, perish in her absence, having no assured stay 
or respite of our lives ; and our malignant adver- 
saries ready to watch any occasion for the shedding 
of our blood, as we see by those two near and 
miraculous escapes have found. 

" Only, good Madam, do your dihgent endeavor 
herein, and counsel the success, as we also with you 
shall, unto God in our prayers ; which, howsoever it 
fall out, magnified be the blessed name of God in 
these our mortal bodies, whether by life or death. 
His mighty hand that hath hitherto upholden us, 
assist us to the finishing up this last part of our 
warfare to the vanquishing of our last enemy, death, 
with all his terrors, and to the attaining of that 
crown of glory which is purchased for us in the 
blood of Christ, laid up and ti'uly kept for us in the 
hand of God ; and not only for us, but for all that 
keep the faith and commandments of Jesus. Of 
which number, noble lady, I hear and hope you are ; 
and shall not cease (God willing) whiles I here live. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 91 

to further the same unto you by my prayers and 
utmost endeavors. His grace and blessing, the 
prayers of the saints, and mine unworthy service be 
with you. This 4th or 5th of the fourth month, 1593. 
" Your honor's humbly, at commandment, during 
life, condemned of men, but received of God. 

" Henry Barrowe." 

We are not able to identify in the court of Eliza- 
beth, the " Countess " to whom Barrowe made this 
touching and solemn appeal, nor can we learn what 
steps were taken to prevent the execution. From a 
private letter we find that Lord Burghley interfered 
to secure a reprieve. He submitted to the arch- 
bishop a proposition for peace from Barrowe in the 
following terms : " My humble desire is to you and 
any that fear God, and even to my greatest adver- 
saries in these ecclesiastical controversies, or (I 
hope) our brotherly differences, if we may come to 
Christian and peaceful conference with some learned 
and moderate persons, where the reasons on each 
side may be with deliberation set down and ex- 
pounded by the word of God, and so His truth 
therein appearing may be embraced, and we brought 
to unity in the truth, and these wounds which now 
are made, and likely to shed even streams of blood, 
may be healed. Those faithful of our mind which 
yet remain, and such as God, no doubt, will raise 



92 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

up in this cause of Christ may be reunited. Yea, 
when all of us may be united in Christ, our head, 
with joy. And howsoever it shall please God and 
Her excellent Majesty to dispose of our lives, yet we 
hereby being brought to the sight of such faults as 
we are charged to have committed (but yet see not), 
may then humbly acknowledge the same, and suffer 
such punishments as are inflicted to the good exam- 
ple of others, to the honor of Her Majesty and her 
state, and thus, as in the sight of Christ, I vow, by 
His grace, and dare assure, on the behalf of my 
Christian brethren like minded, that you, or any of 
you, taking this Christian and brotherly pains, shall 
reason and prove us by every word of God to agree 
with you and be obedient unto His whole will." 
This proposal met with no favor from the Episcopal 
bench. The Archbishop of Canterbury " was very 
peremptory, so as the Lord Treasurer gave him and 
the Bishop of Worcester some round taxing words, 
and used some speech to the queen, but was not 
seconded by any, which hath made him remiss 
as is thought." * 

The object sought by the bishops was uncondi- 
tional submission. A recantation, however insincere, 
would have saved the lives of the prisoners. The 
attorney-general wrote to the Lord Keeper in the 
case as follows : • 

* State Paper MSS. Letter of Thos. Phillips. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 93 

" My most humble duty to your Lordship, — 

" This day, by virtue of the last commission of 
oyer and terminer in London, the court hath pro- 
ceeded against Barrowe and Greenwood for devis- 
ing, and against Scipio Bellott, Robert Bowie, and 
Daniel Studley, for publishing and dispersing sedi- 
tious books ; and they are all attainted by verdict 
and judgment, and direction given for execution to 
be done to-morrow as in case of like quality. 

" None showed any token of recognition of their 
offence and prayer of mercy for the same, saving 
Bellott alone, who desireth conference, and to be 
reformed of his errors, and with tears affirmeth him- 
self to be sorry that he hath been misled. 

" The others pretend loyalty and obedience to 
Her Majesty, and endeavor to di*aw all that they 
have most maliciously written and published against 
Her Majesty's government, to the bishops and minis- 
ters of the church only, and as not meant against 
her highness ; which being most evident against 
them, and so found by the jury, yet not one of 
them made any countenance of submission ; but 
rather persisted in that they be convicted of. This 
I have thought good to make known to your Lord- 
ship ; to the end, that if Her Majesty's pleasure 
should be to have execution deferred, it might be 
known this night, and order given accordingly; 
otherwise, the direction given by the judges in open 



94 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

court will prevail ; and so I commit your Lordship 
to the Almighty. 23 Martii, 1592—3. 

" Your Lordship's most humble at commandment. 

" Tho. Egerton." 

Three days after, " Mr. Attorney " writes : " I 
have spent this whole afternoon at a fruitless, idle 
conference, and am but now returned, both weary 
and weak. If my health will serve me, I will wait 
upon your Lordships to-morrow morning, and make 
report of the day's exercise. I have sent to your 
Lordships, here enclosed, an act of the bill in the 
lower house against recusants, reformed as the com- 
mittee have brought it again into the house. How 
it is in any thing changed in substance from the title, 
as it was first exhibited, doth appear in the marginal 
notes, which, to-morrow, I will more fully declare to 
your Lordships, if it shall please your honor to give 
me leave. And rest in all things at your Lordships' 
commandment, the 26th of March, 1593. 

" Your Lordships' most humble at commandment 

" Tho. Egerton." 

The change made in the " bill," to which the 
attorney-general refers, appears to have decided the 
fate of Barrowe and Greenwood. Phillips, in a 
letter to his " loving friend," Mr. William Sterrell, 
gives curious particulars on the subject. He says : 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 95 

" There was a bill preferred against the Barrowists 
and Brownists, making it felony to maintain any 
opinions against the ecclesiastical government, 
which, by the bishops' means, did pass the upper 
house, but was found so captious by the nether 
house as it was thought it would never have passed 
in any sort, for it was thought all the Puritans 
would have been drawn within the compass thereof. 
Yet, by the earnest laboring of those (who) sought to 
satisfy the bishops' humors, it is passed to this 
effect, that whosoever shall be an obstinant recusant, 
refusing to come to any church, and do deny the 
Queen to have any power or authority in ecclesias- 
tical causes, and do by writing or otherwise publish 
the same, and be a keeper of conventicles also, being 
convicted, he shall abjure the realm within three 
months, and lose all his goods and lands ; if he 
return without leave, it shall be felony. Thus have 
they minced it, as is thought, so as it will not reach 
to any man, that shall deserve favor, in a concur- 
rence of so many faults and actions. The week 
before, upon the late conventicle you wrote of last, 
Barrowe and Greenwood, with some others, were 
indicted, arraigned, and condemned, upon the statute 
of writing and publishing seditious books, and would 
have been executed, but, as they were ready to be 
braced up, were reprieved ; but, the day after the 
court house (the House of Lords) had showed their 



96 THE HIDDEN CHTRCH. 

dislike of this bill, were early in the morning hanged. 
It is plainly said that their execution proceeded of 
malice of the bishops, to spite the nether house, 
which hath prociued them nmch hatred among the 
common people atlected that way." * 

This remarkable document, dated April 7, 1593, 
was wTitten the day after the execution of Barrowe 
and Greenwood, and supplies, in consequence, the 
most authentic eyidence as to the instigators of their 
death. 

It is said that the Queen was somewhat moyed 
on hearing of the eyent. She asked Dr. Reynolds 
what he thought of Mr. Barrowe and JNIr. Green- 
wood, lie answered Her Majesty that it could not 
ayail any thing to show his judgment concerning 
them, seeing they were put to death ; and, being 
unwilling to speak his mind fiuther, the Queen 
charged him upon his aEegiance to speak. He re- 
plied, " that he was persuaded, if they had liyed, they 
would haye been two as worthy instruments for the 
church of God as haye been raised up in their age." 
Her Majesty sighed, and said no more. On a sub- 
sequent occasion, the Queen riding in a park, near 
the place of execution, inquired of the Earl of 
Cumberland, who was present when they suti'ered, 
what end they made. He answered, '' A very godly 
end, and prayed for your Majesty and the state, 

* State Paper MSS. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 97 

etc." Finally, the Queen asked the archbishop what 
he thought of Barrowe and Greenwood, in his con- 
science. In reply, he said he thought tliey were 
servants of God, but dangerous to the state. 
" Alas ! " rejoined the Queen, " shall we put the 
servants of God to death ? " 



VII. 

PENRY, THE PILGRIM MARTYR. 

On the day of the martyrdom of Barrowe and 
Greenwood, their brother and companion, John 
Penry, WTote an affecting letter from prison to his 
wife, in which he gives the particulars of his appre- 
hension on the 22d of the preceding month. 

" I see my blood laid for," he says, " (my beloved), 
and so my days and testimony drawing to an end 
(for aught I know), and, therefore, I think it my 
duty to leave behind me this testimony of my love 
to so dear a sister, and so loving a wife in the Lord 
as you have been to me. ... If the Lord shall 
end my days in this testimony, as blessed be His 
name, howsoever it may be, I am ready and content 
with His good pleasure. Keep yourself, my good 
Helen, here with this poor church. You may make 
all good refuge, and stay here, as any widow else, 
for your outward estate. Though you could not, 
yet I know that you had rather dwell under the 
wings of the God of Israel in poverty, with godly 

(98) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 99 

Ruth, than to possess kingdoms in the land of 
Moab ; and what shift soever you make, keep our 
poor children with you, that you may bring them up 
yourself in the instruction and information of the 
Lord. I leave you and them, indeed, nothing in 
this life, but the blessing of my God ; and His 
blessed promises, made unto me a poor wretched 
sinner, that my seed, my habitation, and family 
should be blessed and happy upon the earth ; and 
thus, my sister, I doubt not shall be found an ample 
portion both for you and them ; though you know 
that in hunger often, in cold often, in poverty and 
nakedness, we must make account to profess the gos- 
pel in this life. ... I know, my good Helen, that the 
burden which I lay upon thee of four infants, whereof 
the eldest is not four years old, will not seem in 
any way burdensome to thee. . . . Salute the whole 
church from me, especially those in bonds, and be 
you all much and heartily saluted. Let none of 
them be dismayed ; the Lord will send a glorious 
issue unto your troubles. Yet, you must all be 
prepared for sufferings, I see likelihood. Let not 
those which are abroad miss to frequent their holy 
meetings." 

The entire correspondence of Penry,* at this try- 
ing period, affords a subject for the most interesting 
study. 

* See " Penry, the Pilgrim Martyr," published by the Cong. Board 
of Publication. 



100 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

For more than two centuries his name has been 
branded with infamy, and writers of ecclesiastical 
history, so called, have represented him as a vile and 
reckless incendiary, without principle, and detestable 
for his spirit and practices. We find, however, from 
the affecting prison letters addressed to his family 
and to his brethren of the church, a combination of 
integrity, wisdom, and tenderness, seldom met with 
under circumstances so likely to test the character 
and disposition. 

Penry was true to his principles and to the cause 
he had firmly espoused. He remained, therefore, 
inflexible in his adherence to the views he had 
broached as the result of deep and settled conviction. 
But in his course we have a striking example to 
show the compatibility of the sternest rectitude 
with the finest sensibility. The heart of the husband 
and of the father is laid open to us, whilst we see 
in him, at the same time, the courage of the cham- 
pion, the zeal of an apostle, and the patience of the 
martyr. He was not indifferent to life. On the 
contrary, he had the strongest reasons, arising from 
the ties of affection, to desire its preservation. He 
made every effort, consistent with regard to the 
interests of truth, to arrest the fatal stroke intended 
against him ; and he urged iiis beloved and devoted 
wife to take their four helpless children to the judges 
to move them to compassion. The attempt was 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 101 

vain. She might as well have tried to move a rock 
or to melt an iceberg. The practical answer given 
by one of the ermined savages to her appeal, was to 
commit a Christian widow, who accompanied her, 
to prison, simply on suspicion of complicity with 
the Separatists, from the fact of her association with 
the wife of Penry. But, for a moment, throughout 
this perplexing and heart-rending experience, the 
martyr never lost sight of the moral grandeur of 
the cause for which he suffered. 

" If my blood," he said, " were an ocean sea, and 
every drop were a life unto me, I would give them 
all, by the help of the Lord, for the maintenance of 
the same, my confession. Yet if any error can be 
shown therein, that I will not maintain." To the 
last he evinced the utmost calmness, strengthening 
and comforting others, and indicating to them the 
course of Christian duty. In reading the following 
passages from his letter to the church, we must bear 
in mind the wretchedness of his outward condition. 
Torn from his family, at the age of thirty-four, with 
all his warm and gushing affections ; denied the 
sight of his wife, and refused all opportunity to 
embrace, for the last time, children he loved so ten- 
derly ; left in a gloomy cell, with no place for rest 
except on a filthy litter ; watched incessantly by the 
authorities to prevent, if possible, all communication 

with his friends, and brought up, at the pleasure of 

7* 



102 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

the justices, to answer questions to his own injury, 
or to listen to their bitter taunts and reproaches, he 
yet found means to communicate his thoughts in 
terms the most eloquent and impressive, and in a 
tone of almost supernatural calmness. 

" Beloved ! " he writes, " let us think our lot and 
portion more than blessed, that are now vouchsafed 
the favor, not only to know and to profess, but also 
to suffer for the sincerity of the gospel ; and let us 
remember that great is our reward in Heaven, if we 
endure unto the end. 

" I testify unto you, for mine own part, as I shall 
answer before Jesus Christ and his elect angels, that 
I never saw any truth more clear and undoubted 
than this witness wherein we stand. . . . And I 
thank my God I am not only ready to be bound 
and banished, but even to die in this cause by His 
strength. Yea, my brethren, I greatly long, in 
regard of myself, to be dissolved, and to live in the 
blessed kingdom of heaven with Jesus Christ and 
his angels ; with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, 
Moses, Job, David, Jeremy, Daniel, Paul, the great 
Apostle of the Gentiles ; and with the rest of the 
holy saints, both men and women ; with the glorious 
kings, prophets, and martyrs, and witnesses of Jesus 
Christ, that have been from the beginning of the 
world ; particularly with my two dear brethren. 
Master Henry Barrowe and Master John Green- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 103 

wood, which have, last of all, yielded their blood for 
this precious testimony. Confessing unto you, my 
brethren and sisters, that if I might live upon this 
earth the days of Methuselah twice told, and that 
in no less comfort than Peter, James, and John were 
in the Mount ; and, after this life, might be sure of 
the kingdom of heaven ; that yet, to gain all this, I 
durst not go from the former testimony. Wherefore, 
my brethren, I beseech you to be of like mind herein 
with me. . . . 

" Strive for me and with me, that the Lord our 
God may make rrie and us all able to end our course 
with joy and patience. . . . 

" I would, indeed, if it be His good pleasure, live 
yet with you, to help you to bear that grievous and 
hard yoke which yet ye are like to sustain, either 
here or in a strange land. 

" And, my good brethren, seeing banishment with 
loss of goods is likely to betide you all, prepare 
yourselves for this hard entreaty, and rejoice that 
you are made worthy, for Christ's cause, to suffer 
and bear all these things. And I beseech you, in 
the bowels of Jesus Christ, that none of you in this 
case look, upon his particular estate, but regard the 
general state of the church of God ; that the same 
may go and be kept together whithersoever it shall 
please God to send you. Oh I the blessing will be 
great that shall ensue this care. Whereas if you 



104 THE HIDDEN CHTRCH. 

go, every man to provide for his own house, and to 
look for his own family, first neglecting poor Zion, 
the Lord will set his face agamst you, and scatter 
you from the one end of heaven to the other; 
neither shall you find a resting-place for the soles 
of your feet, or a blessing upon any tiling you take 
in hand. . . . 

" Let not those of you, then, that either have 
stocks in your hands, or some Ukely trades to live 
by, dispose of yoiurselves where it may be most 
commodious for your out^vard estate, and in the 
mean time suffer the poor ones, that have no such 
means, either to bear the whole work upon their 
weak shoulders, or to end their days in sorrow and 
mournins: for want of outward and inward comforts 
in the land of strangers ; for the Lord will be an 
avenger of all such dealings. But consult with the 
whole church, yea, with the bretlu-en of other places, 
how the church may be Ivept together and built, 
whithersoever they go. Let not the poor and the 
friendless be forced to stay behind here, and to break 
a good conscience for want of your support and 
kindness unto them, that they may go with you. 

" And here, I humbly beseech you, not in any 
out^vard regard, as I shall answer before my God, 
that you would take my poor and desolate widow, 
and my mess of fatherless and friendless orphans 
with you into exile, whithersoever you go ; and 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 105 

you shall find, I doubt not, that the blessed promises 
of my God, made unto me and mine, will accom- 
pany them, and even the whole church for their 
sakes. . . . 

" Be kind, loving, and tender-hearted, the one of 
you toward the other ; labor every way to increase 
love, and to show the duties of love, one of you 
toward another, by visiting, comforting, and re- 
lieving one the other, even for the reproach of the 
heathen that are round about us (as the Lord saith). 
Be watching in prayer ; especially remember those 
of our bretliren that are especially endangered ; par- 
ticularly those om* two brethren, jNIr. Studley and 
Robert Bowl, whom our God hath strengthened now 
to stand in the fore-front of the battle. 

" I fear me, that our carelessness was over great 
to sue unto God for the lives of those tsvo so 
notable lights of His church, who now rest with 
Him, and that He took them away for many respects 
seeming good to His wisdom ; so, also, that we 
might be careful in prayer in all such causes. . . . 
Prav for the brethren, and for our brother, Mr. Francis 
Johnson ; -and for me, who am likely to end my 
days either with them or before them, that our God 
may spare us unto His church, if it be His good 
pleasure, or give us exceeding faitlifulness ; and be 
every way comfortable unto the sister and wife of 
the dead, I mean my beloved INI. Barrowe and M. 



106 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Greenwood, whom I most heartily salute, and desire 
much to be comforted in their God, who, by His 
blessings from above, will countervail unto them the 
want of so notable a brother and husband." 

In the deep obscurity that rests upon all the move- 
ments of the church, struggling for existence against 
such formidable opposition, we cannot determine, 
with certainty, how far its influence extended. But 
the request of Penry, that the brethren would com- 
municate with those who held the same faith in 
different parts of the country shows that the church 
in London was not a solitary community. Consid- 
ered in anticipation of the subsequent movement of 
the Pilgrim Fathers to America, the words of the 
martyr have a significance semi-prophetic : 

" I would wish you earnestly to w^ite ; yea, to 
send, if you may, to comfort the brethren in the 
west and north countries, that they faint not in 
these troubles, and that also you may have of their 
advice, and they of yours, what to do in these deso- 
late times ; and, if you think of any thing for their 
comfort and direction, send them conveniently a 
copy of this iny letter, and of the Declaration of 
faith and allegiance, wishing them, before whom- 
soever they be called, that their own mouths be not 
had in witness against them in any thing; yea, I 
would wish you and them to be together, if you 
may, whithersoever you shall be banished ; and to 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 107 

this purpose, to bethink you beforehand where to 
be ; yea, to send some who may be meet to prepare 
you some resting-place ; and be all of you assured 
that He, who is your God in England, will be your 
God in any land under the whole heaven ; for the 
earth and the fulness thereof are His, and blessed 
are they that, for his cause, are bereaved of any 
part of the same." 

From a petition of the church, to which we shall 
shortly refer, Penry and his friends must have di- 
rected their thoughts to the western hemisphere. 
With his dying hand, from the gallows in South- 
wark, he pointed to the future home of the Pilgrims, 
a country at this day numbering a population of 
thirty millions.* 

The brethren, to whom Penry addressed his touch- 
ing appeal, were not wanting in effort to save the 
lives of the brethren " specially endangered." They 
petitioned the Queen, and sent a memorial to the 
Privy Council, the Lord Mayor, and the magistrates 
of the city, but without success. On the 25th of 
May, after a mock trial, the fatal sentence was pro- 

* Impressed with this sublime incident, the writer of these lines, 
with tlie members of the Pilgrini Church in Southwark, erected a 
corner-stone of a memorial building on the 29th of May, 1856, in- 
scribed with the name of Penry. There it has remained four years, 
a fragment with the appearance of a ruin, waiting until the sons of 
the Pilgrims shall com})lcte it as a Pillar of Witness. 



\y 



108 TEE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

nounced. Archbishop Whitgift was the first to sign 
his death-warrant, with Sir John Popham and others. 
The friends of Penry anticipated that he would be 
led forth to die after the expiration of the usual 
term allowed after the verdict. A concourse, numer- 
ous and orderly as that collected to witness the 
execution of Barrowe and Greenwood, would no 
doubt have accompanied Penry to manifest their 
sympathy ; but, to prevent such a demonstration, 
the sheriff was directed to surprise the prisoner a 
day or two before. On the 29th of May, Penry was 
suddenly ordered, when at dinner, to prepare for 
death in the afternoon at four o'clock. He was led, 
at five, from the prison in High Street borough, to 
the gallows erected at St. Thomas, a watering in 
the Old Kent road, Southwark. A small company 
of persons, seeing the workmen making preparations, 
had collected together. Penry would have spoken, 
but the sheriff insisted that neither in protestation 
of his loyalty, nor in the avowal of his innocence, 
should he utter a word. His life was taken, and the 
people were dispersed. The place of his burial is 
unknown. But 

"Though nameless, trampled, and forgot, 
His servant's humble ashes lie; 
God has marked and sealed the spot, 
To call its inmate to the sky." 



I 



VIII. 

FIRST PLANS FOR MIGRATING TO NEW ENGLAND. 

The mariners of England directed great attention 
to the Western Hemisphere in the reign of Eliza- 
beth ; Raleigh, Frobisher, Drake, Gilbert, Lane, 
Hariot, and Cavendish, sought in succession to 
secure a settlement in America. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, in particular, was bent on this 
object. Often defeated in plans, and unjustly- 
treated, he returned to it with ardor and resolution 
whenever an opportunity arose to put forth fresh 
effort. He had received his military training in con- 
nection with the Huguenots of France, and the 
massacre of the colony sent by them to Florida 
made a strong impression upon his mind. 

Some of the miserable men, who had escaped the 
furious carnage of the Spaniards, found their way to 
England, and received aid and encouragement from 
Raleigh. They were introduced at court, and from 
that period public interest was awakened in the sub- 
ject of colonization in America. In the first instance, 

10 ( 109 ) 



I 



110 ' THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Raleigh preferred to form a plantation north of 
Vh'ginia ; " for the apparent danger," says Captain 
Smith, " all the colonies may be in if this be not 
possessed by the English, to prevent the Spaniard 
who already hath seated himself on the north of 
Florida and on the back of Virginia, where he is 
already possessed of rich silver mines, and will no 
doubt vomit his fury and malice upon the neighbor 
plantations, if a prehabitation do not anticipate his 
intentions." 

The melancholy fate of the colonists at Roanoke 
is well known to the student of American history. 
Enchanted by the descriptions, given by Philip 
Amidas and Arthur Barlow, of the delightful region, 
the fragrance of which was like that of " some deli- 
cate garden, abounding with all kinds of odoriferous 
flowers," a company of emigrants sailed from 
Plymouth for this transatlantic paradise in 1585. 
The expedition consisted of seven vessels, and car- 
ried one hundred and eight colonists to the shores 
of Carolina, accompanied by men of science and 
commanders of great nautical experience. Manteo, 
one of the natives who returned with the fleet from 
a visit to England, was sent ashore to announce 
their arrival. Their reception by the aborigines was 
favorable, and, with ordinary prudence, they might 
have gained their confidence. But they were want- 
ing in prudence and in just consideration of others. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. Ill 

For an act of theft by the Indians, Grenville, the 
English commander, ordered the village to be burnt 
and the standing corn to be destroyed. 

After the return of the fleet, the colonists explored, 
the country, and reported its wonderful beauty and 
fertility. They spoke in contemptuous terms of the 
natives as too feeble to inspire terror. 

Mad with the passion for gold, the new settlers 
pushed their way into the country with no regard to 
the proper means of safety. One of the Indian 
chiefs, unsuspecting danger, was lured by them into 
a kind of ambush, and put to death with his princi- 
pal followers. 

Wearied after a time with their enterprise, and 
impatient for supplies, which were on the way, the 
colonists seized the first opportunity to return to 
England. They came home, in the fleet of Sir 
Francis Drake, to disparage the country with which 
they had expressed themselves so charmed and 
satisfied. 

Sir Richard GrenviUe, on his arrival only a fort- 
night after with stores for the infant settlement, 
found it completely deserted. UnwiUing that the 
post should be entirely abandoned, he left fifteen 
men as a garrison on the Island of Roanoke. 

A second company of settlers, with wives and 
families, were sent out by Raleigh in 1587. They 
found the fort in ruins, and around it the bleached 



112 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

bones of their countrymen who had been murdered 
by the Indians. Disasters thickened upon them. 
Alarmed and anxious, the cojpnists urged John 
White, their governor, to return to England for 
reinforcements and supplies. He left eighty-nine 
men, seventeen women, and two children in the 
" city of Raleigh," expecting to enlist the sympathies 
of their friends in the mother countiy on their be- 
half. His daughter and gi-anddaughter remained 
behind in the settlement, as hostages, to satisfy the 
colonists that all his energies would be devoted, 
when absent from them, to their interests. 

Unhappily White, on reaching the mother country, 
could not secure relief in time to save the colony. 
The threatened invasion of Spain absorbed the 
attention of aU classes. Raleigh, indeed, found 
means to despatch White with supplies in two ves- 
sels. But instead of pursuing a direct course, they 
tried. to seize prizes of war, and suffered, in conse- 
quence, in an engagement at sea. They were dis- 
abled in the conflict, and were compelled to return 
to England. In the meanwhile, the poor colonists 
at Roanoke perished without leaving a vestige to 
trace their existence. In 1590, White returned to 
search for his daughter and the settlers, but without 
success. 

This rapid sketch of the course of things, in refer- 
ence to colonization, is needful to understand the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 113 

terms of a petition presented about this time by 
the Separatists, after the martyrdom of Barrowe, 
Greenwood, and Penry. If men were still wanted, 
as a forlorn hope in those distant regions, they were 
prepared, trusting in God to venture into the breach. 

If England needed to have a frontier line of firm 
and aU-enduring colonists to break the force of a 
Spanish irruption, and to screen other settlers who 
might otherwise be exposed, they offered their ser- 
vices for such a purpose. They were influenced by 
no mercenary motive, nor were they consumed by 
the thirst for gold. The only satisfaction they sought 
was that arising from freedom of religious worship. 
The fact that they could not attach their names to 
a petition for the object, without peril from the au- 
thorities, only enhances its moral interest. These 
remarks will prepare the reader to regard with 
peculiar interest the following document. " The 
humble petition of Her Highness' faithful subjects, 
falsely called Brownists. To the Eight Honorable 
the Lords of Her Majesty's most honorable privy 
council : 

" Whereas we. Her Majesty's natural born subjects, 
true and loyal, now lying many of us in other coun- 
tries as men exiled Her Majesty's dominions, and the 
rest which remain within Her Grace's land, greatly 
distressed through imprisonment and other great 
troubles sustained only for some matters of con- 

10* 



114 THE HIDDEN" CHURCH. 

science, in which our most lamentable estate we 
cannot, in that measure, perform the duty of subjects 
as we desire. And, also, whereas means are now 
offered for our being in a foreign and far country, 
which lieth to the west from hence in the province 
of Canada,* where, by the Providence of the Al- 
mighty and Her Majesty's most gracious favor, we 
may not only worship God, as we are in conscience 
persuaded by His word, but also do unto Her 
Majesty and our country great good service, and in 
time also greatly annoy that bloody and persecuting 
Spaniard about the Bay of Mexico. Our most 
humble suit is, that it may please your Honors to be 
a means unto her Excellent Majesty, that with Her 
Majesty's most gracious favor and protection, we 
may peaceably depart thither, and there remaining 
to be accounted Her Majesty's faithful and loving 
subjects, to whom we owe all duty and obedience 
in the Lord. Promising hereby, and taking God to 
record, who searcheth the hearts of all people, that 
wheresoever we be come, we will, by the grace of 
God, love and die faithful to Her Highness and this 
land of our nativity." 

* The name Canada was given to an extensive territory, including 
what was subsequently called New England. In Francis dc Creux's 
Historia Canadensis a map is given of 1660, in which Newfoundland, 
Nova Scotia, and New England, are included in Canada, extending to 
Michigan and Lake Superior. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 115 

The ideas of the petitioners, to modern readers, 
must appear extremely confused. " Canada " and 
the " Bay of Mexico," as we now understand the 
subject, are too widely apart to be comprehended in 
the same description. But there can be no doubt 
as to the purpose of these heroic men, in relation to 
the interests of their country and the counteracting 
influence to be exerted on the cruel Spaniards. 
What if the Pilgrims of 1620 had been anticipated 
by the companions of the martyrs in 1593 ? What if 
the principles of the Plymouth Colony had leavened 
the South as they formed the men of the North ? It 
was not so ordered. The Lords of the Privy Council 
would not deign to give a reply to the petitioners. 
They wanted pioneers in the New World, men with 
inward resources sufficient to make themselves at 
home in the wilderness. But they could not recon- 
cile themselves to the thought that " Brownists " -^ 
might be permitted to breathe freely, though three 
thousand miles away. 

It was necessary that further experiments should 
be made in colonization, to exhaust the wisdom and 
the resources of the mighty and of the noble, before 
the promoters of the schemes for " plantation " would 
condescend to accept the people fitted in Providence 
for the work. 



IX. 

MORE IMPRISONMENTS. — FRANCIS JOHNSON. 

How the Christians in bonds found means to 
write amidst the confusion of the common prison 
on the one hand, and the incessant vigilance of the 
keeper on the other, remains to us a mystery. Penry, 
in a letter to his wife, says : " I got means, tliis day, 
to write this much, whereof no creature living know- 
eth." In a long and deeply affecting communication 
intended for his daughters, and to be read by them 
when they should come to years of discretion, he 
tells them : " I have written this in that scarcity of 
paper, ink, and time, that I could do it no otherwise 
than fii'st it came into my mind, and set it down." 

In the original manuscripts there are few indica- 
tions of haste. The writing is even, often neat, and, 
in the margin, Scripture references are marked with 
striking exactness. Did they secrete materials for 
correspondence supplied to them stealthily by 
friends ? Did they watch for the fii'st rays of the 
morning, and record their thoughts when the motley 

(116) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 117 

crowd of fellow prisoners were fast aleep ? We 
cannot tell. But, as we take into the hand the 
papers moistened with their tears, we are thankful 
that the precious fragments remain. 

The communications of Francis Johnson, speaking 
comparatively, are rather extensive. Left in the 
Clink prison, after the martyrdom of his brethren, 
he wrote to Lord Burghley, enclosing a petition to 
the Queen. " Many," he says, " know not our caus(>, 
and either speak evil of that they know not, or at 
least offer us not any way to help us, if they do not 
also seek, by all means, to add to our afflictions. 
Of them that know it, some think us worthy to be 
cast into dungeons, yea, to be put to death for ii, 
although they be not able, by the Scriptures of God, 
either to justify their own standing in their false 
ways, or to blame this our walking in the way of 
Christ. Others are fearful of the faces of men, or 
as forgetfuft)f the afflictions of Joseph ; not having, 
or at least not showing themselves to have the fellow 
feelings which ought to be in the members of the 
body, whereof Christ is the Head. And this our 
misery continueth, yet none at all put out their 
hands to help us, so that we may justly lament and 
say, as is written : ' They have shut up our life in the 
dungeon, and cast a stone upon us. Yea, for thy 
sake, O Lord, are we killed all day long, and are 
counted as sheep to the slaughter.' But, however 



LIS THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

God for a time chastise our sins and try our faith, 
in stamping us under feet and in subverting our 
cause, and overthrowing our right before the face 
of Him that is high, yet certainly there is a time 
when this our warfare shall be accomplished. 

" Remember, I beseech you (Right Honorable), 
that your Lord hath, by express commandment, laid 
this duty upon all His servants, to open their mouth 
in the cause of His children, especially when they 
are appointed unto destruction ; and that He halh 
promised also, and will give, a plentiful blessing 
and reward to the performance hereof; and that 
your Lordship hath been many ways helpful to the 
distressed ministers of God, being yourself (through 
the mercy of God) an ancient professor and fur- 
therer of the sincerity of the gospel for which we 
suffer. . . . 

" On my knees I beseech your Lordship, by your- 
self, or the Earl of Essex, the Lord Grey, or such 
others, to be a means that this our petition may be 
dehvered to Her Highness' hands ; that we, finding 
favor in Her Majesty's eyes, through the blessing of 
God, this heavy drain laid upon our loins may be 
removed, and that we be not stiU forced to go into 
fire and water (as hitherto we have been), and that 
only for our obedience to the commandments of 
Christ ; but that we may be suffered, together with 
peace, either to live under Her Majesty's govern- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 119 

ment, in obedience of the gospel, in any place of her 
dominions (which we most desire), or else to depart 
whithersoever it shall please God to bring us, and to 
give us a resting-place for the service of His name, 
and in peace and tranquillity. . . . 

" I am bold to send to your Lordship a short 
* confession of faith ' and an ' apology,' drawn by 
that faithful witness of Christ, our brother Penry, be- 
fore his death. Although condemned of men, yet I 
doubt not but he was accepted of God, and now is 
partaker of that crown of life which is promised to 
all them that are faithful unto death. The poor 
remnant of Christians (who are falsely called Brown- 
ists) do all of us generally agree with our faithful 
brethren, in that confession of faith and allegiance 
to God and Her Majesty, as we have often adduced 
to the world. . . . 

" Let it not be tedious to your Lordship, I be- 
seech you, to read over this ' confession of faith,' 
which also may be shown to whom it pleaseth you. 
Only let me humbly entreat your Lordship not to 
make known from whom you received it ; neither to 
show this, or any former letters, till it please God 1 
be free out of prison, either alive or dead in the 
Lord. 

" I scarce know any person, to whom your Lord- 
ship can show them, that will not make relation of it 
to the Prelate of Canterbury and other of our adver- 



120 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

saries ; who will the more, either continue my 
restraint in prison, or hasten the end of my days in 
this life. But I know your Lordship will be very 
careful hereof in these dangerous days. If it please 
God so to dispose, as there shall be nothing obtained 
from our former general suit to her Majesty, yet I 
humbly beseech your Lordship to be a means, either 
by yourself or the Earl of Essex, to Her Majesty's 
council or commissioners, to procure mine own 
liberty (there being now a new statute), if not, then 
under bail for four or five months this summer for 
the benefit of my health." "^ 

In one of his " former letters," dated " from the 
Clink, January 8, 1593, and subscribed by himself 
as " pastor of that poor distressed church, and still in 
close prison for the gospel of Jesus Christ," Francis 
Johnson says to Lord Burghley : " If the session 
had been holden at Newgate at the beginning of last 
month, as was appointed, two of us (who are falsely 
called Brownists) were to be indicted. 

" We are not within the danger of the statute of 
the 35 Eliz. cap. 1, whereupon we have thought 
they would indict us, much less of the statute of 23 
Eliz. cap. 2." 

Who they be that are indicted we cannot learn 
Mr. Wroth, one of the commissioners, openly spoke 
of it at Westminster, the fifth of last month, at 
* Harleian MSS. 6849. 143. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 121 

which time also a preacher, Mr. Smyth, one of us, 
being called thither (eleven months a prisoner, and 
yet in the Marshalsea). 

" I know (Right Honorable)," he continues, " we 
are a people despised and reviled of all men. Yea, 
everywhere spoken against as schismatics, seditious 
persons, subverters of the state, and w^hat not. But 
this (alas ! ) hath been the lot of the truth and ser- 
vants of God everywhere. Yea, of the prophets, 
apostles, and of Christ himself, thus to be railed 
upon and persecuted for the truth's sake ; and com- 
monly, under other color and pretence. Therefore, 
we are not ashamed of the gospel and sufferings of 
Christ. We suffer for laboring, in all holy and peace- 
able manner, to obey our Lord Jesus Christ in His 
own ordinances, ministry, and worship, prescribed 
in His last testament, and sealed with His precious 
blood. 

" If we err in these things, prisons and the gallows 
are no fit means to convince and persuade our con- 
sciences, but rather a quiet and godly conference, or 
a discussion of the matter by writing, before equal 
and impartial judges. This we have often sued for, 
but could never obtain. We now, therefore, in a 
humble manner, solicit your Lordship to procure 
this for us. We are fully persuaded of this from 
the word of God, and are ready, by the grace of 

God, lo seal it with our own blood. But we desire 

11 



122 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

it, that the truth being discovered and made mani- 
fest, the false offices, callings, livings, and possessions 
of the prelacy, might be converted to Her Majesty's 
use, as were, not long since, the livings of the 
abbots, monks, and friars in these dominions ; and 
that by these means the gospel of Christ may have 
free course, and the peace of the church be pro- 
moted." 

The father of Francis Johnson, who was mayor 
of Richmond, in Yorkshire, exerted himself to secure 
the freedom of his two sons (both confined in the 
Clink). 

" When our poor old father applied to Justice 
Young," Francis says, " for us to have the liberty 
of the prison, he and the Dean of Westminster 
would have sent him to prison, had not Justice 
Barnes interposed and prevented them." 

An original manuscript in the handwriting of the 
"poor old father" is still in existence. The sub- 
joined is a copy : 

" The humble petition of John Johnson for his 
two sons, Francis and George Johnson, having been 
close prisoners ; the one in the Clink a year and a 
half, and the other in the Fleet sixteen months, only 
for their conscience in religion. 

« To the Right Honorable the Lord High Treas- 
urer of England : 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 123 

" Most humbly sueth to your Lordship, your poor 
suitor, John Johnson, to have in remembrance the 
petition he referred to your honor in behalf of his 
two sons, Francis and George Johnson, who have 
been kept close prisoners, the one in the Clink a year 
and a half, the other in the Fleet sixteen months, 
only for that upon conscience they refuse to have 
spiritual communion with the present ministry of 
the land. Both of these have been scholars and 
masters of arts in the University of Cambridge, and 
there brought up in learning to the great charges of 
your orator, their father, who with all the suit he can 
make to Her Majesty's high commissioners, finding 
no release for his sons, is enforced to make his hum- 
ble suit unto your honor ; beseeching your honora- 
ble and Christian help (your said orator being shortly 
to return unto the north country where he dwelleth), 
that his sons may either be discharged altogether, 
or have the benefit which the preachers had two 
years since, who, being prisoners, were suffered to 
be at some honest men's houses in the city, upon 
sufficient assurance there to be forthcoming upon 
warning duly given,* and that (till this be effected) 
they may for their health and lessening of their 

* Cartwrig'ht in a letter to Lord Grey, says his fellow-prisoners in 
the Clink and White Lyon, had obtained from His Grace of Canterbury 
this liberty, by their own bond of forty pounds, on the condition of 
retuxning to their prisons at night. See Landsdowne MSS. 69, art. 40. 



124 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

charges, have the liberty of the prisons where they 
are ; and the younger, called George, be removed 
from the Fleet, where he hath been most unchris- 
tianly entreated, so as he hath been kept, sometimes 
two days and two nights together, without any 
manner of sustenance. Sometimes twenty nights 
together without any bedding, save a straw mat, and 
as long without any change of hnen. And all this 
sixteen months in the most dark and unwholesome 
rooms of the prison they could thrust him into, not 
suffering any of his friends to come unto him ; and 
now of late, not permitting your orator, his father, 
so much as to see him. 

" In all which respects your poor suppliant is 
forced, even in the bowels of nature and of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, to sue to your honor, that it would 
please you, by your honor's good means to see that 
release may be had of the most unhealthful, charge- 
able, and long-continued close imprisonment of his 
two sons aforesaid ; and thus, both he and they 
shall be bound daily to pray unto God for Her Maj- 
esty and your honor's health and happiness in this 
life and for ever. 1 July, 1594." 

These overtures on behalf of Francis Johnson and 
his brother were not attended with immediate suc- 
cess. Francis was left in bonds ; but, amidst the 
privations and dreariness of the Clink prison, he 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 125 

found opportunity to write in exposition and in the 
defence of his principles. 

" There was a gentlewoman," * we are told, " im- 
prisoned because she would not join with the public 
ministry, in England, in the worship of God.'' To 
justify her course, and withstand the importunity of 
her friends, she gave a reason for her faith in a 
letter to Arthur Hildersham, a Puritan minister of 
great report. The reply of Hildersham she sent to 
Francis Johnson, in prison, to be answered by him 
with more ability than she possessed. 

The tedium of imprisonment was also relieved by 
a discussion which originated, apparently, with Mr. 
Daniel Buck, one of the members of the church who 
was taken prisoner in the woods at Islington. 

This capture and imprisonment, together with the 
martyrdom of the faithful ministers, greatly stag- 
gered Mr. Buck. He was a kind of small banker 
in the borough of Southwark, and had begun to 
taste the sweets of prosperity. 

The thought, either of capital punishment or of 

* There is some probability that this "gentlewoman" entered into 
nearer relation with the pastor in bonds who undertook the defence of 
her principles. However tliis may be, Francis Johnson was married 
to a lady of whom the Pilgrim Fathers speak in terms of respect and 
admiration. She had a " good estate, and was a godly woman, very 
modest both in her apptirel and all lier demeanor, ready to any good 
works in her place, and helpful to many, especially the poor, and an 
ornament to his calling." 

11* 



126 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

perpetual exile, was extremely unwelcome to his 
mind ; for he was one of a numerous class, by no 
means extinct, who doubt the utility of martyrdom 
under any circumstances. Combining with the 
instinct of self-preservation the sagacity of a man 
of business, Mr. Buck hit upon the expedient of 
trying to persuade his minister, Francis Johnson, to 
accommodate his conscience to the act of parlia- 
ment, so that the troubles of imprisonment might, 
for the future, be avoided, and all the brethren be 
left in peace and comfort to pursue their worldly 
callings. 

He knew too well the sternness of principle in his 
pastor to try, in a direct manner, to reduce him to a 
compromise ; but it occurred to him that, with the 
aid of Mr. Henry Jacob, a clergyman at Cheriton, 
in the neighboring county of Kent, the change he 
desired might be effected. He proposed, in a dis- 
putation between them, to act as messenger ; taking 
the papers to Johnson in prison from Jacob, and 
returning to and fro with propositions, replies, and 
rejoinders, according to the particular turn of the 
controversy. Mr. Buck was quite satisfied with the 
reasoning of Henry Jacob, though evidently disap- 
pointed in the issue. He published the paper "to 
show the obstinate dealing of Master Johnson." 

The discussion was protracted and of varied char- 
acter. The argumentum ad hominem was more freely 



THE HIDDEN CHUKCH. 127 

used than would be deemed courteous in modern 
times. 

" I pray you, Master Johnson," writes Henry Jacob, 
" consider yourself. You were a true Christian be- 
fore you fell into this separation. Moreover, you 
were learned. You knew and acknowledged those 
very corruptions a great while, and yet condemned 
us not. Nay, you condemned this separation 
earnestly. I pray you, is it not possible that num- 
bers, who see not so far as you did then, should 
still condemn your separation, and yet be true 
Christians, as you acknowledge that yourself then 
was ; me ipso teste ? 

" That which you add of persecution unto bonds 
and exile and death, to prove our utter abolishing 
from Christ generally, it is a toy. First, if you were 
merely innocent, yet this could not make us worse 
than the Jews in Christ's time ; yet for all that 
they persecuted were not wholly fallen from God. 
Secondly, you suffer, indeed, more than you need, 
if that you would but acknowledge the grace of 
God with us, so far as it is. It is, therefore, not 
Christ's cross, in that regard, but your own, that 
you bear." 

" I confess," replies Johnson, " that whiles I was 
minister and member of your church, in that consti- 
tution I stood in an antichristian state, yet doubt I 
not but even then, being of the elect of God, I was 



128 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

partaker, through faith, of the mercy of God in 
Christ, to salvation ; and this, I hope, is the case of 
divers among you. But, for myself, I have now 
the more assurance, in that God hath both drawn 
me out of that antichristian state, giving me more 
to see and forsake it, and hath planted me in His 
true church and household, giving me to receive His 
truth in much affection, with joy of the Holy Ghost. 
But, as for you in your estate, besides that you are 
not members of any true visible church, you do, 
moreover, abide in gross confusion, false ministry, 
antichristian worship, and other abominations, by 
the word of God already discovered. Now, whiles 
you thus remain, you cannot, in that estate, approve 
yourself to have the promise of salvation, whereof, 
by the word of God, you can be assured, until you 
depart out of that Babylon, and save yourself from 
that fro ward generation. 

" You so carry yourself as if you had been chap- 
lain to Bonner, Bancroft, (jardiner, Whitgift, or 
some such Caiaphas ; and so testify that not only 
the Prelates and Formalists, but even the Reformists, 
among whom you reckon yourself, have your hands 
in our blood, consenting and approving that which 
is done against us. 

" You say we suffer more than we need. Did not 
Bonner often so speak of the martp-s ? What think 
you also of the sufferings of Mr. Udale, Mr. Fenner, 



I 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 129 

Mr. Bearing, and Mr. Merbury ? Show us in what 
particulars we suffer more than we need. We suffer 
only for bearing witness to the truth of Christ against 
the abominations of antichrist." 

Henry Jacob asked his opponent whac difference 
he put between the Church of England and the 
martyrs of the Marian persecution. 

In reply, Johnson said : 

" 1. Greater light of the truth is now come into 
the world than was in those days, but you love 
darkness more than light, for you still walk in dark- 
ness. 

" 2. They witnessed against the abominations of 
antichrist (then called in question) to the loss of 
their liberty and lives. Your church doth not so 
against the remnants of popery (now controverted), 
but do either openly defend them, or fearfully submit 
to them. 

" 3. They consisted not of all sorts of people, good 
and bad, as your church doth. 

" 4. Such of them as were ministers were degraded 
from their antichristian functions. So do not yours. 

They were (members), and died members of a 
true and visible church (namely, that persecuted 
church, in Queen Mary's day, which was separated 
from the rest of the land, as from the world, and 
formed together in the fellowship of the gospel by 
voluntary submission thereunto ; though, in that 



130 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

time of ignorance, they had their defects and 
errors). You continue members of a falsely consti- 
tuted church, unseparated from the world, yielding 
subjection to antichristian enormities against the 
ordinances of Jesus Christ." 

Henry Jacob reminded his antagonist that, 
amongst those who separated from the church, there 
w ere many who held erroneous opinions, and that 
in his own church there was not perfect agreement. 

Francis Johnson admitted that there was weak- 
ness and imperfection in the members. They were, 
he said, but newly come out of Babylon. There 
was contention and error in the primitive church, 
until they were duly sifted. " There may be sundry 
things," he added, " wherein the brethren of the same 
church may differ in judgment among themselves, 
and yet, notwithstanding, walk together in the same 
faith, testimony, and fellowship, wherein God hath 
united their minds, none of them being contentious 
to disquiet the church or the members thereof, and 
all being ready to receive the truth which God by 
His word shall further make known whatsoever it 
be ; * and thus, I dare boldly say that, whosoever 

* The student of Pilgrim History will be reniiiuletl of the terms of 
the ehiireh coA'enant quoted by Robinson, twenty-tive years after, in 
his partinjr adviee on the sailini; of the Speedwell from Holland : 
" We promise and covenant with God and one with an other, to re- 
ceive whatsoever liglit or truth shall be made known to us from liis 
written word." 



, THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 131 

shall not thus hold and walk, they shall not only 
condemn the apostles and primitive churches, togeth- 
er with the martyrs, but shall find by experience, 
that neither any churches, nor so much as two or 
three men shall ever be able to keep fellowship any 
while together among themselves." 

We have no need to follow the discussion further. 
Francis Johnson remained true to his convictions, 
and was, as we have seen, exposed for his "obsti- 
nacy." 

Henry Jacob did not forget the powerful strokes 
of his opponent. He was not satisfied with his 
own position, but he looked for a scriptural refor- 
mation in the church of England in the course of 
Providence, and hesitated, as others like-minded did, 
in view of the cross to be taken up in unreserved 
obedience to the truth. Henry Ainsworth and John 
Smyth, of whom we shall hear further, halted be- 
tween two opinions. Ainsworth went to Ireland, 
and was occupied in missionary labors. Smyth, on 
his liberation from the Marshalsea, because of failing 
health, spent some time in conference with friends. 
Francis Johnson went forward in the narrow, rugged, 
and difficult path. We have no distinct informa- 
tion respecting the judicial proceedings in his case, 
but we learn, incidentally, that in the first instance 
he was banished to Newfoundland. 

More than two centuries and a half have passed 



132 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

away since then, adding little to the attractions of that 
distant shore as a place of exile. What must have 
been the isolation of one transported there before the 
close of the sixteenth century ? Yet Johnson was 
not alone in that penal settlement for " the people 
falsely called Brownists." Four of his brethren and 
companions, as they shared the same fate, were 
brought into closer fellowship, and were cheered and 
strengthened by mutual sympathies. 

All who had pined for years in the dungeons 
were not suffered to go into exile. Saxio Bellot and 
Robert Bowie, indicted with Barrowe and Green- 
wood, were respited, as oifenders of a " more pardon- 
able degree." But their escape from the gallows 
was only to be subjected to a more lingering death 
in prison. With many others they sank from want 
and the fetid atmosphere. 

Christopher Bowman, one of their number, in a 
petition still in existence, describes their ten'ible 
sufferings. In some cases the record is, that the 
prisoner "being sick unto death was carried forth 
and ended his life within a day or two after." Aged 
Christian women were amongst the victims. In the 
"dark and cloudy day" it is almost impossible to 
trace the course of the flock of slaughter. 

The members were scattered in various parts of 
the country ; and the brethren in " Norwich, Glou- 
cester, and Bury," endured like afflictions with the 
church in London. 



X. 



THE SECOND SEPARATION. — BREWSTER AND THE 
CHURCH AT SCROOBY MANOR. 

Holland, the land of windmills, dykes, and 
treckskuyts, is not famed for natural scenery. 
The distinction of the poet, — 

" Man made the town, God made the country," 

scarcely applies where the banks and hillocks are 
so artificial. Pictorial objects are not wanting, 
as the Dutch painters have proved, but they 
are found chiefly in browsing cattle, or in peas- 
antry in a state of easy indulgence, dozing in 
the shade, or yielding to the influence of quiet con- 
viviality. Yet the traveller may visit, by the light 
of the harvest-moon, a part of Amsterdam with 
feelings of interest almost entrancing. The antique 
houses with high gables, the stately trees reflected 
in the waters of the street canals, the lights in the 
boats of the fishermen, and the silvery rays of the 
moon thrown over the river, produce an effect which 
will linger in the memory as pleasantly as that of 
some beautiful lake imbosomed in the mountains, or 

12 { 133 ) 



134 THE niDDEX CHURCH. 

as the windings of the Rhine. In this "city of 
refuge" the English exiles, for conscience' sake, found 
a resting place at the close of the sixteenth century. 
The exact time of their arrival is unknown to us, 
nor can we tell the order in which they came. 

This only is certain : that in a " blind lane " of 
Amsterdam a church was formed under the pastoral 
care of Francis Johnson and Henry Ainsworth, who 
were associated with Daniel Studley, Stanshall 
Mercer, George Kugorton, Thomas Bishop, and 
David Bresto, as elders or representatives. Their 
names will be familiar to the reader in connection 
with the trials and persecutions endured by them in 
London. Ainsworth says : " We being called of 
God, whiles w^e dwelt in England, entered into cove- 
nant there, and became His church and people, and 
so had equal right in Christ, His gospel and ordi- 
nances, with all churches in the world." 

The quiet of the exiled church was only compara- 
tive. Influential parties in England tried to excite 
suspicion in the minds of their neighbors, and they 
were represented as holding dangerous principles, 
and as disorderly in practice. Unhappily, whilst 
exposed to vigilant and unfriendly scrutiny from 
without, they were tiied, in no small degree, by the 
weakness and restlessness of some of their own 
company. • 

" For this cause," they say, " hath our exile been 



4 

THE HIDDEN CIIURCn. 135 

hardly thought of by many, and evil spoken of by 
some. . . . Without all further search they have 
accounted and divulged us as heretics or schismatics, 
at the least; yea some, and such as worst might, 
have sought the increase of our afflictions even here 
also, if they could ; which they have both secretly 
and openly attempted." For the information, there- 
fore, of all churches, they gave a distinct " confession 
of faith," confirming every position by citations 
from Scripture. They made, also, their appeal to 
posterity. " However," they say, " this present gen- 
eration shall judge of these things, yet the age to 
come (which will be less partial) will easily give 
sentence. . . . The crime of heresy is not to be im- 
puted to them whose faith doth wholly rely upon 
most sure ground of Scripture. They are not schis- 
matics who entirely cleave to the true church of 
God, such as the prophets and apostles describe 
unto us ; nor are they to be counted sectaries who 
embrace the truth of God which is one and always 
Hke itself." 

They entered into a polemical correspondence 
with the learned Francis Junius, but with little 
effect, so far as he was personally concerned. He 
stood upon his dignity, and was careful to retain the 
respect of the Anglican prelates. " If ye have found 
a place of rest," writes the Dutch professor, " ye 
shall do wisely, if ye do not stir where ye may be 



136 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

in quiet. . . . Pity yourselves, your flock, your enter- 
tainers, the whole church." The pacific Junius was 
evidently of opinion that they should have been 
content to breathe without daring to think. The 
exiled confessors had not, however, been tamed 
down to this point of passive quiescence. The 
appeal made to their regard for self-preservation 
found no response from men who had '' suftercd the 
loss of all things." 

" If you wTite again," said the exiles to Junius, 
" we do humbly and earnestly entreat, if anywhere 
we have erred in our faith and cause, that you 
vouchsafe to show it us bv the word of God. . . . 
Pity, we pray you, our church here exiled, every- 
where reproached, eaten up, in a manner, with deep 
poverty, despised and afflicted well near of all ; 
against which Satan hath now, for a long time, 
attempted all utmost extremities. Pity them from 
whom we have departed, who, under pretence of the 
gospel, continue still in antichristian defection." 

The waitings of Ainsworth and Johnson attracted 
great attention, and, in spite of the efforts made by 
the bishops to prevent their circulation, they were 
read, in different parts of England, with great avid- 
ity ; and, we may presume, no doubt exerted an 
influence in determining the course of some who 
had hesitated in doubt and misgiving. 

At the close of the reign of Ehzabeth, the Sepa- 



4 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 137 

ratists, who remained in their native land, were left, 
for a time, unmolested. John Smyth, the pupil of 
Francis Johnson at Cambridge, and subsequently, 
as we have seen, a prisoner in the Marshalsea, now 
exercised his ministry at Gainsboro' in Lincolnshire. 
In 1602, he formed a Christian society, the members 
of which, " as tlie Lord's free people, joined them- 
selves (by a covenant of the Lord) unto a church 
estate, in the fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all 
His ways made known, or to be made known unto 
them, according to their best endeavors, whatever it 
should cost them." 

John Robinson, M. A., of Corpus Christi College, 
Cambridge, gave in his adhesion to their cause, and 
they became known as the " Brethren of the Second 
Separation." 

Joseph Hale (afterwards Bishop) attributes the 
cnange in the sentiments of Robinson to the influ- 
ence of Smyth. " Lincoln shu-e," he says, " was 
your country, and Master Smyth your oracle and 
general." But in the account of his conversion to 
these views, given by himself, he refers to the writings 
of Barrowe, Greenwood, and Penry, as instrumental 
in the change. The style of these earnest men, we 
might have supposed, would be repellent, in some 
degree, to the more sober taste of Robinson ; but 
he justly observes : " Whatsoever truth is in the 
world, it is from God, and from Him we have it, by 

12* 



138 THE HIDDEN CHUllCH. 

what hand soever it be reached unto us. ' Came 
the word of God unto you only ? ' ^' 1 Cor. xiv. 36. 

Robinson admits that he had been restrained from 
the avowal of his convictions by too great deference 
to the Puritan divines. " I do willingly acknowledge 
their learning and godliness,"' he says, " and do honor 
the memory of some of them ; yet I neither think 
them so learned but they might err, nor so godly, 
but in their error they might reproach the truth they 
saw not. I do, indeed, confess, to the glory of God 
and mine own shame, that a long time before I 
entered this way, I took some taste of the truth in 
some treatises published in justification of it, which, 
the Lord knoweth, were as sweet as honey unto my 
mouth ; and the very principal thing which, for the 
time, quenched all further appetite in me, was the 
overvaluation which I made of the learning and 
holiness of these and the Like persons ; blushing in 
myself to have a thought of pressing one hair- 
breadth before them in this thing, behind whom I 
knew myself to come so many miles in all other 
things. Yea, and even of later times, when I had 
entered into a more serious consideration of these 
things, and according to the measure of grace re- 
ceived, searched the Scriptures whether they were 
so or no, and, by searching, found much light of 
truth ; yet was the same so dimmed and overclouded 

with the contradictions of these men and others of 

ft 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 139 

like note, that had not the truth been in my heart as 
a burning fire, shut up in my bones (Jer. xx. 9), I 
had never broken those bonds of flesh and blood 
wherein I was so straitly tied, but had suffered the 
light of God to have been put out in mine own 
unthankful heart by other men's darkness.'' 

We can never know the secret mental struggles 
of the men who, like Robinson, left their former 
associations, in obedience to the truth, and connected 
themselves with a few poor and despised people who 
sought to advance principles dearer to them than./ 
life itself. The contemptuous and scurrilous terms 
in which even Hale, the author of the " Contempla- 
tions, " could indulge in speaking of them, may give 
us some idea of the scorn and contumely they had 
to bear. 

Richard Clifton, rector of Babworth, relinquished 
his living to identify himself with the cause of the 
Separatists. The change in his sentiments was also 
attributed to the influence of John Smyth. 

Though disturbed by these secessions from the 
establishment, the opponents of the Separatists ridi- 
culed them for the paucity of their numbers. * 

" Some one prison," said Hale, " might hold all 
your refined flock." " We look not," they replied, 
" in any case, to the greatest number either of people 
or elders, but in all cases we look to God's law and 
testimony, as we are commanded, which, when it 



140 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

is showed, by whomsoever, all ought to yield unto. 
We know neither the multitude, neither yet the 
mighty or rabbis are still to be followed. There are 
difterences of shifts and otliees in the church. Yet 
no man's gift or office (no, not though he were an 
angel from heayen) may carry us from the written 
word, by which the godly people tried eyen the 
apostle's doctrine, and were commended.'' 

INIore of the Pm-itan ministers would haye joined 
the brethren of the second sepai'ation, but for the 
seyerity of the penalty incmTcd by the step. Richard 
Bernard, vicar of Worksop, at one time inclined 
this way. '• I doubt not but Mr. Bernard,'' said 
Robinson, " and a thousand more ministers in the 
land, were they secure of the magistrate's sword. 
and might they go on with hia good license, would 
wholly shake off their canonical obedience to their 
ordinaries, and neglect their citations and censures, 
and refuse to sue in their courts, for all the peace 
of the church which they commend to us for so 
sacred a thing, could they but obtain license from 
the magistrates to use their liberty which they are 
persuaded Christ had given them, — they would soon 
shake otV the prelates' yoke, and (.ira\\- no longer 
under the same in spiritual communion with all the 
profane in the land, but would break their bonds of 
iniquity as easily as Samson did the cord where- 
with Delilah tied him, and give good reasons also 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 141 

from the word of God for tlu?ir so doing. And yet 
the approbation of men and angels makes the ways 
of God and works of religion never a whit the more 
lawful, but only the more free from bodily lal)or." 

Such teaching made its impn^ssion in the district. 
Bernard, to accommodate matters, formed an inner 
circle of Cliristian people in his parish, who adopted 
a " covenant." But for such practices he lost his 
vicarage. And it became needful, in order to regain 
episcopal favor, that he should prove himself a more 
thorough-going churchman. He wrote bitterly 
against Smyth. The discnssion between them is 
curious, and not without interest, but to follow its 
windings would be almost to lose the thread of our 
narrative. 

The church at Gainsboro' increased in number 
and became two bands. A second, or branch church, 
was formed at Scrooby, about twelve miles distant. 

The brethren were received to the house of 
William Brewster, formerly in the service of Secre- 
tary Davison, and no\v postmaster, occupying the 
manor house at Scrooby. His old mansion (once 
the temporary residence of Cardinal Wolsey, and 
coveted by King James as a hunting box, when he 
" took his pleasure " in Sherwood forest) afforded 
good accommodation for the church. Here they 
met and enjoyed the pastoral care, first of Richard 
Clifton, and then that of John Robinson. Brewster 



142 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

showed them great kindness. He was a man of 
large and varied experience, and well acquainted 
with persons of eminent piety and Christian useful- 

* 

ness in different parts of the country. It is probable 
that he was indebted for his appointment as post- 
master to the influence of Lady Stanhope, a woman 
of most exemplary character. William Bradford, 
an orphan youth, living with his uncle in the neigh- 
boring hamlet of Austerfield, joined the church soon 
after its formation. His mind had been deeply 
impressed under the ministry of Richard Clifton, 
and he resolved, in his seventeenth year, to cast in 
his lot with the people who met in Scrooby manor. 
He wished, he said, " to engage with some society 
of the faithful, that should keep close unto the written 
word of God, as the rule of their worship." His 
uncles were strongly opposed, but in answer to their 
remonstrances, he said : " To keep a good conscience, 
and walk in such a way as God has prescribed in 
His word, is a thing which I shall prefer above you 
all, and above life itself." 

These village Christians were much encouraged 
by the letters of the pastor of the church at Gains- 
boro'. " Brethren," he writes, " you are few in num- 
ber, yet, considering that the kingdom of heaven is 
as a grain of mustard seed, small in. the beginning, 
yet I do not doubt but you may, in time, grow up 
to a multitude, and be, as it were, a great tree fuD 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 143 

of fruitful branches. The truth now, blessed be the y 
Lord, is so evident, that all the men upon earth can 
never be able to quench it." 

As he penned these semi-prophetic words, John 
Smyth had no idea that in the church of the manor 
house was the germ of a nation now consisting of 
thirty millions. Probably, at the outset, the hope was 
indulged that their Christian society would not be 
disturbed. The accession of James to the throne of 
England raised the hopes of the more advanced 
Puritans. Petitions were prepared indeed by the 
Separatists, under the illusion that the prince, who 
had made such pious professions, would recognize 
their right to worship God as they were persuaded 
by His word. Henry Jacob seems to have been one 
of the most sanguine as to the gracious intentions 
of the new monarch. He exerted himself to procure 
signatures to the Millenary petition. The evidence 
of his zeal, in promoting, is supplied in his manu- 
scripts at Lambeth. But he proceeded a few steps 
further in the direction of the Separatists, and ap- 
pealed to the King, as the " noblest pillar of the 
gospel," in favor of complete reformation. With 
innocent simplicity he says : " We have had it from 
your Majesty very oft, that whatsoever things in our 
churches we can show to be contrary to God's word, 
shall be by your gracious means removed, and whatso- 
ever (yet out of use with us) may appeal by God's 



J 



144 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

word to be necessary, shall be established. We crave, 
we desire nothing more." 

It is curious and very interesting to observe that 
the arguments addressed to Henry Jacob, by Francis 
Johnson from the Clink prison, were now^ adopted 
by him in almost the same terms, in reasoning with 
the pedantic monarch ; and he candidly admits that 
he had long been convinced by them. The King, 
however, was not so impressible. 

On the 24th of October, 1603, he issued a procla- 
mation, in which he " commanded all his subjects not 
to pubhsh any thing against the state ecclesiastical, 
or to gather subscriptions or make supplications, 
being resolved to make it appear by their chastisement 
how far such a manner of proceedings was disagree- 
able to him ; for he was determined to preserve the 
ecclesiastical state in such form as he found it estab- 
lished by law, only to reform such abuses as should 
be apparently proved." 

Under pretence of arguing the case, the famous 
conference was held at the palace of Hampton Court, 
January 14, 16, and 18, 1604. The Puritan ministers, 
insulted and browbeaten, were denuded of aU hope 
of concession. " I will have," said the King, " one 
doctrine, one discipline, one religion in substance 
and ceremony. Never speak more to that point, 
how far you are bound to obey." After the speech 
of Dr. Reynolds, on the second day, the King replied : 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 145 

" If tliis be all your party have to say, I will make 
the in conform, or I will harry them out of this land, 
or else worse." 

On the third day the temper of the gloomy mon- 
arch was not in the slightest degree improved. " I 
will have none of this arguing," he said, sternly, 
" therefore let them conform, and that quickly too, 
or they shall hear of 'it; the bishops will give them 
some time, but if any are of an obstinate and turbu- 
lent spirit, I will have them enforced to conformity." 

The bishops allowed little breathing time to those 
who would not conform. Henry Jacob, known to be 
a prime mover of the Millenary petition, was natu- 
rally selected as one of the first to be tamed into 
submission. The mode of procedure on the part of 
the bishop was characteristic. He sent for Henry 
Jacob to the palace, as if for a friendly interview, and 
then, having sent his guest to ruminate in the Clink 
prison, he gave direction to the pursuivant to go to 
his dwelling-house in Woodside, Cheapside, and 
seize his papers. By the light of some of these 
original documents we learn particulars that would 
otherwise be lost. In a letter to the Bishop of Lon- 
don, Henry Jacob says that, in giving expression to 
his views, he had only accepted the invitation of the 
King. " We are condemned by many," he adds, 
" and verily we ought to be, as schismatics and con- 
tentious persons, if we will differ from you, and yet 
% 13 



v^ 



146 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

give forth unto the world no reasons for the difference. 
While we were silent and did nothing, we were 
insulted for a long time together. Now, when one 
of us doth give some reasons with due respect, it is 
an offence to do it." He closes the letter in these 
terms : " I came to your Lordship freely, without 
commandment, when my servant told me your mes- 
senger, that your Lordship would speak with me, so 
I beseech you deal kindly with me. I beseech you 
restore me to my poor wife and four small children, 
who, without my enlargement, are in much distress. 
Your Lordship's humble suppliant, Henry Jacob, 
prisoner in the Clink." 

The struggle between conscience and natural 
affection was severe. Many times Henry Jacob 
tried to frame terms of submission, which should be 
consistent with his sense of duty, and yet secure his 
freedom. These documents in the rough draft are 
still preserved. He gave bail to remain silent for a 
time. This was dangerous ground. To escape 
from the temptation to impound the truth and to 
prevaricate, he went to Holland, and soon found there 
John Smyth and Richard Clifton, with the brethren 
from London, who had retired to that country some 
years before. 



XL 

PERSECUTIONS. MRS. CHURCHMAN. 

We return to Scrooby. Even to-day it retains its 
primitive listlessness and insignificance. A more , 
perfect picture of still life could hardly be found. 
Austerfield is equally languid. The two villages are 
connected with the river Idle, a glassy stream, an 
appropriate emblem in character and in name of the 
quiet district. That men of such* firmness, energy, 
and decision as the Pilgrim fathers, should have 
sprung from a locality like this, only shows the 
power of Christian truth to give stamina and force to 
character, when all external influences have a ten- 
dency entirely opposite. Yet it is very possible, that 
the members of the little church would have all sunk 
into the oblivion, common to their neighbors in all 
preceding generations, if persecution had not driven 
them into fame. How persons so moderate and 
socially harmless could have provoked such hostility, 
as that evinced by their possessors, is marvellous. 
We are told, in a general way, that " they were hunted 

( 147 ) 



148 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

and persecuted on every side, so as their former 
afflictions were but as mole -hills to mountains, in 
comparison to these which now came upon them. 
Some were taken and clapped up in prisons, others 
had their houses beset and watched night and day, 
and hardly escaped their heads ; and the most were 
fain to fly and leave their houses and habitations 
and the means of their livelihood." 

Interesting, however, as are all the statements of 
Bradford, it is sometimes rather mortifying that he 
does not enter into a little further detail. We feel 
as if we should like to question some of the " ancient 
men," on points relative to their religious life at 
Scrooby and its vicinity. The recital of Christian 
experience given by persecuted nonconformists, at a 
later period, ma^ suggest to us some idea of the 
troubles ajid vicissitudes to which the Pilgrims were 
subjected. 

We have before us a simple and touching record 
of the trials of Mrs. Mary Churchman, in the seven- 
teenth century, which in its main features, no doubt, 
would correspond with the story of one of the Pilgrim 
mothers, if we could hear it as from her own lips. 
Originally, she tells us, she was "zealous for the 
established church," and that she had " as great an 
inclination to persecute as Paul had." The means 
she resorted to for the annoyance of schismatics were 
not quite so terrible, however, as those employed by 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 149 

Saul of Tarsus. " There lay a way," she tells us, 
" through my father's yard, for Mrs. M., a godly 
woman, to go to meeting, which she did every Lord's 
day. I really thought it my duty to set his great 
dog to molest her, and used sometimes to encourage 
him, i"or half a mile together, with the most bitter 
invectives. Yet such was the preventing providence 
of God, that he never fastened upon this gracious 
person. 

" When about eighteen years of age, it pleased 
the Lord to lay on me a languishing fit of sickness, 
which raised in me some promises of a new life." 

On her recovery, she was persuaded by a pious 
neighbor to go with her to meeting. His preaching, 
she says, " made me tremble and secretly wish I 
have never come there. This trouble I vented in 
floods of tears, for now thought I, they will think me 
one of themselves, which I at that time was fully 
resolved against. I seemed now to like their persons 
worse than ever. In great hurry and confusion 
I sat till service was ended. After sermon, staying 
for my neighbor, the minister came to me, and asked 
where I lived ? who I was ? and whether I knew 
any thing of the Lord Jesus Christ ? " 

She returned blind answers, and was very angry 
with her friend for bringing her to such a place. 

The desire, nevertheless, arose in her mind to 
attend the service again. With joy and thankfulness 

13* 



150 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

she discovered in the Lord Jesus a hiding place, and 
could scarcely refrain from expressing aloud the 
delight she experienced. 

It was, therefore, by the attractive and subduing 
influence of the truth, that hearers were drawn to 
these " conventicles." All who came had to " tiount 
the cost." But we must hear the sequel : " My 
father was then high constable, and had an order 
from the justices to return all the names of them 
who frequented the meetings. This made it a hard 
thing for his own daughter to be a fanatic, which 
was what he could not bear ; and this also increased 
my difficulty in getting out on the Lord's day, which, 
notwithstanding, I sometimes did, and have walked 
eight, ten, yea twelve miles to meeting. If my 
father at any time understood where I was gone, he 
spent the day in nothing but oaths and curses and 
resolves to murder me. My mother, though an 
enemy to fanatics, would frequently send a servant 
to meet me before I could reach home, to tell me 
not to appear till my father was gone to bed ; 
and I often hid myself in a wood-stack, where I 
have seen him pass by, with a naked knife in his 
hand, declaring he would kill me before he slept." 
After an account of various changes and trials, Mrs. 
Churchman says : " Persecution now came on 
apace ; the dissenters could have no meetings but in 
woods and corners. I myself have seen our compa- 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 151 

nies often alarmed with drums and soldiers ; every- 
one was fined five pounds a month for being in their 
company. Here God left me to stagger ; Satan 
suggested if you give your body to be burned, and 
have not charity^ it is nothing, 2 Cor. xiii. 3. But 
the gre3,ter the temptation, the greater was the 
deliverance from those words, Rev. vii. 14 : * These 
are they which came out of great tribulation, and 
have washed their robes, and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb.' 

" Mr. B., with whom I lived, had a call to Holland, 
and as the persecution was very threatening in Eng- 
land, he thought it his duty to accept the call. He 
gave me an invitation to go with him, assuring me 
that all things should be in common. 

*'As I well knew my circumstances were very pre- 
carious, not having anywhere to hide my head, 
when this worthy family was gone, this drew me 
into great straits. I sought the Lord time after time 
on this account, and it seemed as if He was providing 
for me in another land. Grace taught me my duty 
to my parents, though they were enemies to the cross 
of Christ. Accordingly I acquainted them with this 
invitation, and that I should comply with it, unless 
their commands were to the contrary. I added, in 
my letter, I should be all obedient to them, saving 
in matters relating to my God, and though I had 
not been permitted to see them seven years past, yet 



152 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

could assure them, my affections for them were the 
same as ever. I begged they would consider of it, 
and let me know in eight days' time, for all things 
were ready to embark in a fortnight. 

" Not hearing from them in the time I set, I took 
their silence for a consent, and so prepared all things 
ready for my journey, and set out with my kind 
friends. Just before we reached Harwich, where we 
were to take shipping, a messenger from my father 
overtook me with a letter, the contents of which 
were as follows : That if I would come home, I 
should have my liberty to worship God in my own 
way, but as to my leaving the land, this was what 
they could not bear, therefore without fail I must 
come back with the messenger ; which I did. Great 
was the sorrow of parting with my friends, but my 
duty to my parents surmounted all. 

*' I no sooner entered my father's house but my 
mother, in receiving me, fainted away. My father 
also, though a man of great spirit, offered to fall on 
his knees, to ask my pardon for his former cruelty. 
Oh, amazing work of sovereign grace ! INIy father 
immediately told me, I should have my liberty in 
matters relating to my God. I then humbly offered 
my obedience to them both on my knees. At sup- 
per there was not a mouthful eaten but with tears. 
I well knew my God had appeared to my father 
on my behalf, as he did to Laban of old, and ap- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 153 

plied Jacob's promise to myself, Gen. xxxii. 12: 
* Thou saidst I will surely do thee good.' The 
next Sabbath, my father came into my chamber by 
break of day, and told me I should have a horse and 
a man to wait on me to the meeting." The writer 
of the narrative relates the conversion of the whole 
family, but we limit our extracts from it to the 
passages that illustrate the trials of Christian people 
in a condition similar to those of the church at 
Scrooby. Walking over the gently undulating fields 
between Scrooby and Austerfield, we " may imagine 
how these companions in the faith and patience of 
Jesus, young and old, would have to tell of hair- 
breadth escapes from constables, the seizure of friends, 
their wanderings in quest of employment, the priva- 
tions suffered from the loss of means by fines, and 
the keener sorrows arising from the opposition and 
displeasure of their kindred who were averse to the 
course they felt it an imperative duty to pursue. 

And yet they had a present recompense. The truth 
became to them a heart necessity. They prized 
Christian ordinances above life itself, and they 
derived from them consolation and support of which 
the world knows nothing. Their constancy, no 
doubt, often led to inquiry on the part of relatives 
and neighbors who were before estranged. In some 
instances their oppressors, subdued by their meekness 
and gentleness, confessed their error and sought to 



154 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

be instructed in principles, the effect of which, on 
their character and spirit, they witnessed with glow- 
ing admiration. " We will go with you," they had 
to say, " for we have heard that God is with you." 
Hallowed and delightful were their meetings for 
worship and conference at the Manor-house. With 
" great love " elder Brewster " entertained them when 
they came, making provision for them to his great 
charge." 



XII. 

DIFFICULTIES IN REACHING HOLLAND. 

The moors of England are peculiar to the country. 
They differ from the uncleared lands of America and 
from uncultivated regions in other parts of the 
world. In the summer season, or in the bright days 
of autumn, a ramble over them is pleasant and 
invigorating. 

The fine bracing air, scented with the bloom of 
wild flowers, gives buoyancy to the pedestrian, and 
he enjoys a freedom from restraint he can find 
neither in the city nor village. The scene is changed 
in the winter, and woe to the stranger who is 
benighted or overtaken with the snow-storm. 

The sheep tracks are filled up, the distant lights 
only add to his perplexity. He is in danger of 
stumbling over rocks or of sinking into a pool of 
standing water, and if he can once reach human 
dwellings he may be thankful, though it should be 
within some miles of his intended destination. 

Between Grimsby and Hull there was an exten- 

(]55) 



156 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

sive moor in the days of the Pilgi'ims, skirted by the 
sea-shore, " a good way distant from any town." 
One evening, in the spring of 1608, there might have 
been seen a small boat full of women and children 
in a creek at the edge of this large common. 

The appearance of such a party in a place so ■ 
solitary and unfrequented was, in itself, no ordinary 
occurrence. The incident is explained by the fact 
that this company consisted of the wives, sisters, and 
children of the Pilgrims who had resolved to make 
their way to Holland. This was not their first 
attempt to escape. A year before, an engagement 
was made with a captain to convey them from 
Boston to the coast of Holland. On that occasion 
they embarked with all their goods under cover of 
night, but they were cruelly deceived. Instead of 
meeting them at the appointed time, the perfidious 
captain, though he had received the money of the 
Pilgrims, apprised the authorities of their intention 
to escape, and entered into a plot to capture them, 
with the aid of officers, when they should come on 
board in the evening. The disappointment, loss, 
and anxiety occasioned by this betrayal may be 
imagined. The books of Elder Brewster were seized 
with other effects. The Pilgrim passengers were 
turned out of the vessel into open boats, and, after a 
procession through the town, amidst the jeers of the 
mob, they were taken before the magistrates, who 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 157 

put them in ward for a month, and then committed 
seven of their leaders to prison for trial at the 
assizes.* 

After this bitter experience, the best efforts of the 
Pilgrims were directed to secure embarkation at a 
place in which they should escape observation, 
and be free from interruption. They sailed in a 
small bark to the point fixed for receiving the pas- 
sengers. The plan failed, for the Dutch captain did 
not come at the time expected. The rocking of the 
sea affected the women and children in the boat. 
For relief they sailed up the creek to smoother 
waters. Next day the captain made his appearance, 
but as the tide was out the bark could not go off to 

* In connection with these magisterial proceedings, Toby Matthew, 
Archbishop of York, in the return made to the Exchequer on the 13th 
of November, 1608, of the fines which had been imposed witliin his 
diocese in the preceding year, for the purpose of the fines being levied, 
inserted the following ; " Richard Jackson, William Brewster, and 
Robert Rochester, of Scrooby, in the county of Nottingham, Brownists 
or Separatists, for a fine or amercement of 20L apiece, set and imposed 
vipon every one of them by Robert Abbot and Robert Snowden, Doc- 
tors of Divinity, and Matthew Dodsworth, Bachelor of Law, commis- 
sioners for causes ecclesiastical within the province of York, for not 
appearing before them upon lawful summons at the Collegiate church 
of Southwell, the 22d day of April, Anno Domini, 1608,— 60/. 

The two clerical commissioners were advanced to the episcopate. 
Abbot became Bishop of Salisbury. Snowden was afterwards Bishop 
of Carlisle. Mr. Hunter, the accomplished antiquary, to whom we are 
indebted for these particulars, is careful to tell us that the commission 
ers acted legally. 

14 



158 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

the ship. The skipper sent to fetch off the passen- 
gers, but scarcely had he received the first boat load 
on board, and was preparing to go for others, when 
he saw an armed rabble, horsemen and footmen, in 
the distance, rushing furiously to the rendezvous of 
the Pilgrims to capture them as at Boston. 

Alarmed for his own safety, the captain, with an 
oath, ordered the men to weigh the anchor, set the 
sails, and put to sea. No time was given either for 
the men in the ship to receive the necessary supplies 
for the voyage, or for the women and children to 
join them. 

The furious constables and " catchpoles " sprung 
upon their prey, and, regardless of the cries of the 
women and children, dragged them from the boat, 
and drove them across the common, destitute and 
shivering with cold, to make sport for their ignorant 
tormentors. 

It was well after all, that the feebler portion of 
their company had been pent up in the creek, and 
so prevented from sailing, for the ship encountered 
terrific storms. For seven days, Bradford tells us, 
they " neither saw sun, moon, nor stars, and were 
driven to the coast of Norway. All on board seem 
to have given themselves up for lost, at one time, 
but after their fears and troubles, they reached the 
desired haven." 

The watchful eye of Providence was over the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 159 

defenceless mothers and their children left behind. 
They were hurried from one justice to another until 
their oppressors were fairly wearied, and " were glad 
to be rid of them in the end upon any terms." 

After " turmoiling a good while," says the faithful 
narrator, " necessity forced a way for them." 

This fruit came from all their public troubles. 
" Tlieir cause became famous, and occasioned many 
to look into the same ; and their godly carriage and 
Christian behavior was such as left a deep impression 
in the minds of many ; and though some few shrunk 
at these first conflicts and sharp beginnings (as it 
was no marvel), yet many more came on with fresh 
courage, and greatly animated others. And, in the 
end, notwithstanding all these storms of opposition, 
they all got over at length. Some at one time and 
some at another, and some in one place and some in 
another, and met together again according to their 
desijes, with no small rejoicing." 



XIII. 

PILGRIM LIFE IN AMSTERDAM. 

" What brought yon hither ? " This question 
with which the emigrant is saluted on his first 
landing in a strange country, ought to be distinctly 
answered, however rudely it may be put ; at least the 
voluntary exile should be able to give a reply to his 
own satisfaction. 

Look at the gi'oups of Pilgrims, as they come 
ashore on the quays of the Low Countries. Rustic, 
for the most part, in appearance, of different ages, 
and each carrying some little article of which they 
are too careful to trust it with the strangers who speak 
to them in a foreign language. They gaze around 
them with an air of simple wonder, and the younger 
Pilgrims are amused and bewildered with the strange 
looking words painted on the sign-boards. What 
can people so inexperienced, and of such simple 
habits, intend to do in a place like this ? 

They have a reason for coming. They heard that 
" sundry from London and other parts of the land 
who had been exiled ,and persecuted for the same 

(160) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 161 

cause, were gone to Holland, and lived at Amsterdam 
and in other parts of the land, and also that here 
was freedom of religion or all men." 

Conscience, then, brought them hither. But con- 
science will not provide for a man's household. 
Certainly not. Yet where there is an enlightened 
and good conscience, in other words, rectitude of 
principle, there is usually found in connection with 
it soundness of judgment, an average amount of 
good sense, forethought, and willingness either to 
labor or to endure, for a worthy object. Look again 
at this Pilgrim party. There is an air of sobriety 
about them, a certain kindness, with unmistakable 
decision, a combination of gentleness and of firm- 
ness quite distinctive. They know well that they 
will have to grapple with difficulties. In the nature 
of things, it must be a long time before they can 
accommodate themselves to the customs of the 
country, and find suitable occupation for their tem- 
poral support. Their funds are small, and it is too 
possible that they will have to suffer from straits, 
not the less severe, because secretly endured. Brad- 
ford says : " They saw many goodly and fortified 
cities, strongly walled, and guarded with troops of 
armed men. Also they heard a strange and uncouth 
language, and beheld the different manners and 
customs of the people, with their strange fashions 
and attires ; all so far differing from that of their 



162 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

plain country villages, wherein they were bred and 
born and had so long lived, as it seemed that they 
were come into a new world. But those were not 
the things they much looked on, or long took up 
their thoughts ; for they had other work in hand, 
and another kind of war to wage and maintain. 
For though they saw fair and beautiful cities, flow- 
ing with abundance of all sorts of wealth, yet it was 
not long before they saw the grim and grizzled face 
of poverty, coming on them like an armed man, with 
whom they must buckle and encounter, and from 
whom they could not fly. But they were armed 
with faith and patience against him and all his 
encounters ; and though they were sometimes foiled, 
yet, by God's assistance, they prevailed, and got the 
victory." 

They were favored with leaders of great wisdom 
and experience. Brewster was perfectly at home in 
all the scenes around him. In the service of Secre- 
tary Davison he had the charge of the keys of one 
of the Cautionary towns, and he was well acquainted 
with the ways of the people. Bradford, in the vigor 
of early manhood, thoughtful, prudent, and active, 
was ready for any service which might tend to the 
help and comfort of his brethren ; and their pastor, 
Robinson, as we shall see, was remarkably fitted to 
be their guide and teacher. True, their reliance was 
not in the wisdom or in the strength of men, but 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 163 

under God, they valued the gifts and esteemed the 
persons of those who had been raised up to conduct 
their affairs. 

Their first object after their arrival in Holland 
was to find a religious home. Naturally they sought 
out their old friends in Amsterdam. There they 
met John Smyth, Richard Clifton, Francis Johnson, 
and Henry Ainsworth, and some who were person- 
ally acquainted with the martyrs, Barrowe, Green- 
wood, and Penry. They soon ascertained, however, 
that in the Christian society under the care of Smyth, 
as well as in the first church of the same order, in 
the city, there were some things likely to disturb 
their equanimity. The ministry of Francis Johnson 
was edifying, and they were much impressed by the 
manner in which he administered Christian ordi- 
nances. ;gor Henry Ainsworth they had the highest 
esteem, yet, as in the church at Corinth, contentions 
had arisen, and they were unwilling to be identified 
with a party. For the same reason they hesitated 
to join the church under the pastorate of Smyth, not 
to mention some eccentricities of opinion he mani- 
fested, on the subject of reading the Scriptures in 
public, and on other points. 

The Pilgrims, after a year's experience, on the 
whole, decided not to remain at Amsterdam. We 
may glance, nevertheless, at the order of services as 
conducted during the time of their brief sojourn. 



164 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

The morning exercises on the Sabbath began at 
eight o'clock and continued until twelve. 

They commenced with prayer, then read one or 
two chapters of the Bible, explaining the sense, and 
held conference together on the subject. The books 
were then laid aside, and after a second prayer, one 
of the members preached from a text of Scripture for 
nearly an hour. A second member followed with 
another sermon or exhortation of the same duration, 
succeeded by a third, fourth, or fifth, as time would 
allow. Finally, the presiding minister or elder 
offered prayer, and urged the brethren to the exercise 
of Christian liberality, when a collection was made 
for the poor, and the meeting was closed with the 
benediction. 

The service in the afternoon began at two o'clock 
and lasted three or four hours. The exercise of 
church discipline followed. This was the course for 
the day in the church connected with John Smyth, — 
probably there might be a little variation from it in 
the church of which Francis Johnson and Henry 
Ainsworth were ministers. 

The Pilgrims seem to have lost confidence in the 
judgment of their old friend and former teacher, 
John Smyth. Apart from his change of sentiment, 
in reference to baptism, his views on public worship 
were afterwards, to say the least, extremely curious 
and peculiar. There is no reason, however, to 



THE HIDDEN CnURCH. 165 

question his sincerity, and the services he rendered 
entitle him to honorable and grateful remembrance.' 
In answer to the charge of vacillation, he says : " I 
do profess that I will every day, as my errors shall 
be discovered, confess them and renounce them ; 
for it is our covenant made with God to forsake 
every evil way, whether in opinion or practice, that 
shall be manifested unto us at any time, and, there- 
fore, let no man plead now as some have formerly 
done : * These men are inconsistent. They would 
have they know not what, they will never be satis- 
fied,' and the like. 

" For we profess even so much as they object, 
that we are inconstant in error, that we would have 
the truth, though in many particulars we are igno- 
rant of it. We will never be satisfied in endeavoring 
to reduce the worship and ministry of the church to 
the primitive, apostolic institution, from which it as 
yet is so far distant." 



XIV. 

THE PILGRIM PASTOR IN LEYDEN. 

The Pilgrims removed to the " fair city of Leyden 
in 1609." No instance of what Dr. ChahTiers calls 
" teirestrial adaptation," could be more remarkable 
of its kind than the location of Robinson, as the 
representative and advocate of their principles in 
this eminent seat of learning. The fame of its 
university attracted opulent families from various 
parts of the continent, to secure the advantages of 
education it afforded. The liberality of the govern- 
ment made it the asylum of Protestant refugees, 
many of whom were distinguished for their scholastic 
and theological attainments. 

The pastor of the Pilgrims was worthy to take 
his place among the most illustrious of these philos- 
ophers and divines. For a time he had to encounter 
the prejudice and reserve occasioned by his attach- 
ment to the cause of the Separations, but in the 
exercise of patience and the meekness of wisdom, 
he found his true position. 

(166 ) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. . 167 

Elder Brewster found occupation as a printer. 
The needful capital for the business was advanced 
by Mr. Brewer. He " kept no open shop," but 
supplied books extensively for circulation in England. 
In addition to his printing establishment, Brewster 
taught the English language to Danish and German 
students in the University. Some of the members of 
the church were weavers ; Bradford manufactured silk ; 
others obtained a livelihood by attendance on tem- 
porary residents in Leyden, whom they accommo- 
dated with suitable apartments. In various ways 
they obtained a moderate competency, and, by their 
diligence, kindness, and integrity, gained the confi- 
dence of the citizens. On the 5th of May, 1611, 
Robinson, in conjunction with William Jackson, 
Henry Wood, and Reynalph Tschickins, purchased 
a house and garden situated opposite, and to the 
south of the belfry of St. Peter's church, the oldest 
church in Leyden. 

Here Robinson lived. On the south side of his 
residence was the Falyde Bagyn church, and next 
to him was the house of William Symons. In the 
garden attached to his dwelling, Robinson might be 
seen in earnest colloquy with Henry Jacob, William 
Ames, and Robert Parker, Puritan ministers of 
kindred spirit, who were tending gradually to the 
principles held by the Pilgrims. 

The singular moderation of their pastor, and his 



168 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

catholicity of spirit won them to the truth, where a 
teacher of less genial temper might have irritated 
and repelled. He had evidently profited by the 
counsels of his venerable tutor at Cambridge, 
William Perkins. 

That Christian Nestor says : " There can be no 
peace, no Christian neighborhood, no true friendship, 
unless we bear with one another, and one toward 
another do carry himself in an even and moderate 
course. 

" It is the property of true love to pass by many 
wants, and the more that a Christian is rooted in 
true love, the more infirmities will he pass by in 
whom he loves. He setteth no Hmits to himself 
how many or how long to bear. 

" Show thyself -that though thou hast been 
partaker of God's favor, and that thou hast felt in 
thy soul the sweetness of His mercies, by being 
mild and merciful to thy brethren, out of that great 
sea of mercies which God lets flow over thee all thy 
life long. Let fall some drops of mercy on thy 
brother." 

It is most instructive to observe that the men who 
proved so inflexible in their adherence to principle, 
were trained under a ministry richly imbued with 
the spirit of charity. They were impressed deeply 
with the apostolic lesson : " Though I give my body 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 169 

to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me 
nothing." 

We may judge from the sententious style of his 
writings, in what manner Robinson would counsel 
the brethren who sought his advice in the various 
perplexities and difficulties of life. 

He would have them in all things to act with 
equability aud moderation. " There are some," he 
says, " of that boisterous and tempestuous disposi- 
tion, that they can do nothing calmly or a little ; 
their unruly affections, which should follow after 
leisurely, do force on so violently their understand- 
ing, will, and whole man, as there is no stay with 
them; but in all their notions they are like unto 
those beasts which, for the unequal length of their 
hinder legs, cannot possibly go but by leaps. Such 
a stormy nature, with a very little zeal amongst, 
may make a great stir in the world, but is justly to 
be suspected." 

Speaking of a modest and temperate spirit^ he says : 
" Peter and John, with the other apostles, prayed to 
the Lord for boldness in the speaking of his word. 
Acts iv. 29. Many others also pray for boldness, 
as they did ; but forget that they are not apostles, 
nor infallibly directed, as they were. Who, if they 
knew themselves aright, and how prone they are to 
speak their own word instead of God's, would rather 
pray for modesty and advisedness, that they rush 

15 



170 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

not upon the rock of error. Besides, they so prayed 
in regard of the threatenings of unbelievers with 
whom they had to do. But amongst brethren and 
Christians, let us rather affect the lamb's bleat than 
the lion's roar." 

Of truths and the manner in which it should be main- 
tained^ he whites : " All truth, by whomsoever spoken, 
is of God. This truth is always the same whilst 
the God of truth is in heaven, what entertainment 
soever it find with men upon earth ; it is always 
praiseworthy, though no man praise it ; and hath no 
reason, or just cause to be ashamed, though it often 
goes with a scratched face. 

" We must love and attain to the knowledge of 
the truth in ourselves first; lest we be clouds with- 
out rain, promising that to others which we ourselves 
want ; and must, in our places, afterwards make 
manifestation and profession of it. 

" All truth is not to be spoken at all times. ' A 
fool uttereth all his mind ; but a wise man keeps it 
in for afterwards,' Prov. xxix. 11, yet nothing not 
true at any time, or for any cause. He that hath 
but a right philosophical spirit, and is but morally 
honest, would rather suffer many deaths, than call a 
pin a point, or speak the least thing against his 
understanding or persuasion. 

" A man in pleading for the truth may show his 
judgment and understanding best in the matter; 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 171 

but his grace and godliness in the manner, when 
he handles a good cause well, and the Lord's cause 
after the Lord's manner. Sometimes men pretend 
God's truth and zeal for it, \^en indeed they make 
their pleas for truth serve only for hackneys, for 
their lusts to ride on whither they would have them ; 
sometimes men seriously intend truth, and yet 
mingle, both with their good intention, and, it may 
be, true assertion also, such their personal concep- 
tions and distempers, as Christ loseth more by their 
inordinateness that way than he gains both by their 
sound knowledge and fervent zeal of and for His 
truth." 

In this pointed and forcible manner he gave utter- 
ance to maxims of the soundest wisdom. No 
member of his flock could walk with him five 
minutes in his garden, or meet him in conference at 
his house, without receiving lessons worth remem- 
bering, and given with such homely illustrations 
that he could not fail to understand their meaning. 

Take another illustration : " The safest way not 
to be deceived by others, specially to our spiritual 
prejudice, is not to deceive ourselves ; which till we 
do, no other can deceive us. Hence is it, that God 
in His word so often warns us, that we be not 
deceived, and that we deceive not ourselves and our 
own souls. But, and if we either put out our own 
eyes with our finger, through passion or prejudice, 



172 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

or willingly wink at dangers which we might foresee, 
who will pity us, if we fall into the ditch of deceit 
which others dig for us." 

The church regarded their pastor with affection, 
based on esteem for his worth, and combined with 
a grateful sense of the benefit derived from his 
example and his teaching. Robinson fully recipro- 
cated their attachment. In reply to Bernard who 
spoke contemptuously of the exercise of church 
rights by such members as " Simon the saddler, 
Tomkin the tailor, and Billy the beUows-maker," 
Robinson gives this testimony respecting the church 
at Leyden : 

" If ever I saw the beauty of Zion, and the glory 
of the Lord filling his tabernacle, it hath been in the 
manifestation of the divers graces of God in the 
church, in that heavenly harmony, and comely order, 
wherein by the grace of God we are set and walk ; 
wherein if your eyes had but seen the brethren's 
sober and modest carriage one toward another, their 
humble and willing submission unto iheir guides in 
the Lord, their tender compassion toward the weak, 
their fervent zeal against scandalous offenders, and 
their long suffering toward all, you would, I am 
persuaded, change your mind, and be compelled to 
take up your parable, and bless where you purposed 
to curse, as Balaam did. Numbers xxiii. But 
whatsoever you, and all others do, these our experi- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 173 

mental comforts, neither you nor any shall take 
from us." 

It was not permitted to the pastor of the church 
in Leyden to pursue the even tenor of his way, 
caring only for the welfare of his flock, and laboring 
with them to advance the kingdom of Christ. He 
was bitterly assailed by the clergy of the English 
establishment. They had no just occasion for 
the rancorous hostility they still manifested. 

Robinson cherished true kindness of spirit toward 
his Christian brethren who continued in the Church 
of England. " For myself, he says, " thus I believe 
with my heart before God, and profess with my 
tongue, and leave before the world, that I have one 
and the same faith, hope, spirit, baptism, and Lord, 
which I had in the church of England, and none 
other ; that I esteem so many in that church, of 
what state, or order soever, as are truly partakers of 
that faith, as I account many thousands to be, for 
my Christian brethren, and myself a fellow* member 
with them of that one mystical body of Christ, 
scattered far and wide throughout the world ; that 
I have always, in spirit and affection, all Christian 
fellowship and communion with them, and am most 
ready, in all outward actions and exercises of relig- 
ion, lawful and lawfully done, to express the same. 

" I cannot communicate with, or submit unto the 
church order and ordinances there established, either 

15* 



174 THE HIDDEN CHUIICH. 

in state or act, without being condemned of mine 
own heart, and therein provoking God, who is greater 
than my heart, to condemn me much more." 

Conscience, and not faction, led to his separation, 
and he was anxious that in his withdrawal there 
should be nothing to alienate him from any who 
loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. " As they 
that affect alienation from others," he says, " make 
their differences as great, and the adverse opinion or 
practice as odious as they can, thereby to further 
their desired victory over them, and to harden them- 
selves and their side against them, so, on the 
contrary, they who desire peace and accord, both 
interpret things in the best part they reasonably can, 
and seek how and where they may find any lawful 
door of entry into accord and agreement with others ; 
of which latter member, I profess myself (by the 
grace of God) both a companion and a guide ; 
especially in regard of my Christian countrymen, to 
whom God hath tied me by so many inviolable 
bonds ; accounting it a cross that I am, in any par- 
ticular, compelled to dissent from them ; but a 
benefit, and matter of rejoicing, when I can in any- 
thing with good conscience unite with them in 
matter, if not in manner, or, where it may be, in 
both. And this affection, the Lord and my con- 
science are my witnesses, I have always nourished 
in my breast, even when I seemed furthest drawn 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 175 

from them ; and so all that have a true knowledge 
of my course can testify with me, and how I have 
still opposed in others, and repressed in mine own 
people, to my power, all sour zeal against, and per- 
emptory rejection of such as, whose holy graces 
challenge better use and respect from all Christians." 

Robinson had no love for controversy. " Dispu- 
tations in religion," he observes, " are sometimes 
necessary, but always dangerous ; drawing the best 
spirits into the head from the heart, and leaving it 
either empty of all, or too full of fleshly zeal and 
passion ; if extraordinary care be not taken still to 
supply, and fill it anew with pious affections toward 
God and loving toward men." 

" As for myself," he says, " I could much rather 
have desired to have built up myself and the poor 
flock over which the Holy Ghost hath set me in 
holy peace, as becometh the house of God, ' wherein 
no sound of axe or hammer or other tool of iron is 
to be heard,' 1 King vi. 7, than to enter the lists of 
contention." 

But he had no alternative as set for the defence 
of the truth. He was not however to be drawn into 
personalities. Joseph Hall indulged in the bitterest 
vituperation. Robinson, in reply, said, " I will be no- 
thing less in contention, but will count it a victory to 
be overcorrie in odious provocations and reproaches." 
" Your system is one of novelty," said one of his 



176 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

opponents. Robinson answered : " The things we 
teach are not new, but old truths renewed ; so are 
we no less persuaded, that the church constitution 
in which we are set is cast in the apostolical and 
primitive mould, and not one day nor one hour 
younger, in the nature and form of it, than the first 
church of the New Testament." 

"But you make no progress," rejoined the other; 
" you have no proof arising from the ' increase of 
God.' " 

" Indeed," replied Robinson, " the church of Eng- 
land hath the advantage of us ; and, as I suppose, 
of all the churches in the world for monstrous speedy 
growth and increase. It grew from top to toe unto 
a true and entire body of a sudden, and before the 
greatest part of it so much as heard the gospel 
preached in any measure for their conversion. . . . 
Let it be so, that the cause of religion is to be 
measured by the multitude of them that profess it ; 
yet must it further be considered that religion is not 
always sown and reaped in one age. ' One soweth 
and another reapeth.' John iv. 37. John Huss and 
Jerome of Prague finished their testimony, in 
Bohemia and at Constance, a hundred years before 
Luther ; and Wicldiife in England weUnigh as 
long before them, and yet neither the one nor the 
other with the like success unto Luther. 

" And the many that are already gathered by the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 177 

mercy of God into the kingdom of His son 
Jesus, and the nearness of many more through the 
whole land, for the regions are white unto harvest, 
do promise within less than an hundred years, if 
our sins and theirs make not us and them unworthy 
of this mercy, a very plenteous harvest. 

" That we have been, here and there, up and 
down, without sure footing, is our portion in this 
present evil world, common to us with the more 
worthy servants of God going before us, who have 
wandered in wildernesses and mountains, and dens 
and caves of the earth." Heb. xi. 38. 

Every point of objection to the principles and 
practices of the voluntary church under his care, 
Robinson met with a felicity of expression and force 
of reasoning that invest his writings with a charm, 
to the ecclesiastical student, not lost after the lapse 
of two centuries and a half. 

Whilst occupied in preparing iliese treatises and 
in the duties of his pastorate, he took part in public 
discussions in connection with the chief men of the 
University. He derived valuable hints for the 
guidance of the Pilgrims in civil matters, from the 
lectures of the professors, and turned every thing 
in his position and association to the advantage of 
the cause with which he was so closely identified. 

Well might the church " esteem him very highly 
in love." " He was not easily to be paralleled," 



178 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

they tell us, "for all things. Never people upon 
earth lived more lovingly together than we, the 
church at Leyden did." Nor was this testimony 
borne by his own people and immediate friends 
alone. 

Hoornbeck says, " John Robinson was most dear 
to us while he lived, was on familiar terms with the 
Leyden theologians, and was greatly esteemed by 
Ihem." 

Even Baylie, the fiery polemic most opposed to 
the principles of the Pilgrims, is constrained to admit 
that " Robinson was a man of excellent parts, and 
the most learned, polished, and modest spirit that 
ever separated from the church of England." 



XV. 

SECOND PILGRIM CHURCH. — HENRY JACOB. 

The question of " flight in persecution " was often 
discussed in the times of the Reformation. Some 
of the most eloquent letters of Calvin were written 
on this subject, and his counsels were substantially 
the same with those given by Robinson at a later 
period. The opinion, however, was strongly ex- 
pressed by some of the brethren in London, that the 
position taken by the Pilgrims, as exiles, was not 
worthy of the cause to which they were devoted. 

In a dialogue between a " Christian " and an 
" antichristian," in which an " impartial man " takes 
part (1615), the following passages occur : 

I. " One thing there is yet which hath much 
troubled me and others, and, in my judgment, hath 
much hindered the growth of godliness in this king- 
dom, and that is, that many, as soon as they see or 
fear trouble will ensue, they fly into another nation 
who cannot see their conversation, and thereby 
deprive many poor ignorant souls in their own 

(179) 



180 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

nation of their reformation and of their conversation 
amongst them." 

C. " Oh ! that hath been the overthrow of religion 
in this land; the best able and greater part being 
gone, and leaving behind some few, who, by the 
others' departure, have had their afflictions and 
contempt increased, which hath been the cause of 
many falling back, and of the adversaries' exulting. 
But they will tell us, we are not to judge things by 
the effects, therefore we must prove that their flight 
be unlawful, or we say nothing. 

"And first, whereas it is said by some of the fliers, 
that many of the people of God fled into foreign 
countries, and that God gave approbation thereof, 
as Moses, David, our Saviour Christ in his infancy, 
and others, thinking thereby to justify this their 
flight ; I answer, God preserved Moses and the rest 
in their flight, till the time was come that he 
employed them in his service, then in no case would 
He suffer them to fly ; as when Moses manifested 
his exceeding backwardness to the Lord's work, in 
helping his people out of bondage, using many 
excuses, the Lord was very angry with him. And 
whither did our Saviour fly when the time came 
that he was to * show himself to Israel.' If any 
of these men can prove the Lord requireth no wor!: 
at their hands to be done for his glory and the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 181 

salvation of thousands of ignorant souls in their 
own nation, let them stay in foreign countries. 

" But I trust God's people have learned not to say, 
the time is not yet come that Babel should be de- 
stroyed and the Lord's house builded. 

" Did God respect his work and people, that all 
must put to their helping hand, and none must with- 
draw their shoulder lest others were discouraged ; 
and is there no regard to be had thereof now, but 
any occasion, as fear of a little imprisonment or the 
like, may excuse any, both from the Lord's work 
and the help of their brethren, that for want of their 
society and comfort are exceedingly weakened, if 
not overcome. If answer be made, they perform 
their duty in both, that they do the Lord's work, the 
pastor feeding his flock, and the people walking in 
fellowship one toward another ; I demand, doth the 
Lord require no more work of them ? doth he not 
require that they should help to cast down Babel ? 
If reply be made, they do it by their books; I 
answer, that may be done, and their lights shine by 
their mouths and conversations among the wicked, 
which is the greatest means of converting them 
and destroying antichrist's kingdom : ' They over- 
came,' not by flying away, but by the blood of the 
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and 
they loved not their lives unto the death. 

" God's people are the light of the world, a city set 

16 



182 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

on a hill, a candle set on the candlestick, giving 
light to all that come in, and therefore must shine 
by their persons more than by their books. And 
great help and encouragement would it be to God's 
people, in affliction of imprisonment and the like, to 
have their brethren's presence to administer to their 
souls or bodies." 

Robinson justified the course of his brethren ; " As 
we shall perceive either our flying or abiding,'' he 
says, " to be meet for God's glory and the good of 
men, especially of our family and those nearest to 
us ; and for our furtherance in holiness ; and as we 
have strength to wade through the dangers of perse- 
cution, so we are with good conscience to use the 
one or other ; which, our hope and comfort also are, 
we have done in these our days of sorrow ; some of 
us coming over by banishment, and others other- 
wise." 

In truth, there was little choice betAveen a state 
of banishment, and the troubles to be endured in 
their native land. Many of the Pilgrims began to 
feel the yearnings so natural to the exile. Francis 
Johnson addressed a petition about tliis time to 
King James, in which he prays, " that it would please 
him, now, after our long exile and other manifold 
afflictions, to vouchsafe us that gracious sufferance 
that we may be permitted to live in peace, under 
His Majesty's government, in our native country; 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 183 

there to observe all the ordinances of Christ given 
to his church, without being urged to the use or 
approbation of any remnants of the apostasy of 
antichrist, or other human traditions w^hatsoever." 

Henry Jacob does not appear to have entered into 
the discussion, as to the course of a Christian in 
these circumstances, but it is probable that it had its 
practical eftect upon his own mind. However this 
may be, he returned from Holland to London very 
shortly after this agitation of the question. 

There was still a "remnant" left of the faithful 
brethren after the martyrdom of Barrowe, Green- 
wood, and Penry. Severe measures of repression 
were adopted by the authorities to prevent the 
possibility of their resuscitation. All who were 
known to have expressed sympathy ^^-ith them were 
called to account. 

The followins: record illustrates the extreme 
lengths to which the authorities were determined to 
go. " In June, 1594, IMi*. John Clerk the elder, late 
mayor of St. Albans, was brought into the high 
commission court. Avhere, among other articles, these 
were objected to him : That you the said John Clerk, 
in the year 1593, permitted divers and sundry minis- 
ters, not licensed or allowed bv authority, to be 
privately exercised in your own house, and namely, 
one John Penry, lately executed ; or, at least, have 
secretly received and entertained the said Penry, and 



1 84 . THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

have had much conference with him within your 
own house, and have uttered your liking of many of 
his factious opinions, inasmuch that you have kept 
many of his seditious books, supposed to be written 
by him, and have dispersed or imparted some of 
them to others ; then, that the said Penry not long 
before his arraignment was at your liouse, and had 
conference with you, and that before his departure 
from you, understanding that he was endangered, 
did there promise to pray for hini^ saying that you 
hoped both he and his cause should return with 
credit.'' * 

It was supposed that by these means the church 
was extirpated. " As for those we call Brownists," 
said Lord Bacon, " being, when they were at the 
most, a very small number of very silly and base 
people, here and there in corners dispersed, they are 
now, thanks be to God, by the good remedies that 
have been used, suppressed and worn out, so as there 
is scarce any news of them.'' 

The vine was indeed almost torn up by the roots. 
Its branches were broken down, and lay bleeding on 
the ground, to be trampled upon by every passer- 
by ; but a slender stem remained in which there was 
vitality no power on earth was suffered to destroy. 
In other words, the church of the Separatists, though, 

* Lausdowne MSS., 982, 89. 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 185 

to a great extent, scattered and peeled, did not 
become quite extinct in London. The rays of light 
by which to trace its existence are extremely faint, 
but, from incidental notices, we find that though 
'• cast down," it was not destroyed. 

On the 21st October, 1608, L Chamberlain writes 
to Dudley Carleton to tell him that " there was a 
nest or assembly of Brownists discovered on Sunday 
about Finsbury, whereof live or six and thirty were 
apprehended with their preacher, that use to exercise 
at Christ church ( South wark)." 

Henry Jacob was in communication with people 
so designated. Writing to his " Christian and 
beloved friends in Loudon and elsewhere," July 18, 
1612, he says : " The great afflictions which it hath 
pleased God to call me unto, ouly for testifying His 
heavenly truth against the grievous corruptions of 
the church in our land, are well known unto you all, 
my most dear and loving friends. In the midst of 
which my troubles, what comfort I have received 
from you, though I publish not, yet hath a most 
thankful remembrance thereof remained in my heart, 
and with God a most precious recompense is laid up 
for you at the last day." 

With manifest desire to follow the truth and to 
fulfil the trust implied in its honest reception, Henry 
Jacob proceeded on his return from Holland, in 1616, 
with his wonted dillidence and caution. He had 

10* 



186 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

been restrained from committing himself to the Sep- 
aratists, from deference to his friends of the Puritan 
party. They were now fully convinced that the 
expectation of further reformation, with the royal 
sanction, could no longer be retained. Arthur 
Hildersham, the patriarchal leader of the Puritans at 
this time, had been thrown into prison, and two of 
his congregation were committed to the King's 
Bench in Southwark. Here, and almost within sight 
of the Clink prison in which Francis Johnson, his 
former antagonist, had been immured, Jacob pro- 
posed to collect the flock which had been dispersed 
in the " cloudy and dark day." 

He expressed the opinion that a church ought to 
meet statedly in one place, and there to maintain 
public worship and to give its testimony. " Which 
also," he says, " we may likewise affirm of the church 
of Antioch, 1 Cor. xiv. 23 ; Acts xiv. 27 ; Acts xv. 
12, 25 ; Acts xx. 28, and of Rome, and of Jerusa- 
lem, and of Ephesus, etc., in those days. For 
though these cities were great and populous, yet 
being unbelieving and hateful enemies to the gospel, 
each of them had then of faithful Christians but one 
particular constant congregation only. Like as the 
Protestants are in the cities at this day under the 
Spanish King ; or as they were in divers cities of 
France before the peace was made, and as we were 
in London in Queen Mary's time. Where yet we 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 187 

deny not, that then some particular congregations 
being (as that of Jerusalem was before) greater than 
other some, did, by reason of persecution, meet 
occasionally and uncertainly in divers smaller num- 
bers. But these smaller numbers were not so many 
churches properly, because they were uncertain and 
occasional, — a true and proper church being always 
necessarily an ordinary set company and a constant 
society." 

In these views Arthur Hildersham, Job Throgmor- 
ton, Richard Maunsel, and the venerable John Dod, 
so far acquiesced, as to express their approbation of 
the purpose of Henry Jacob to form such a church 
or " constant society." 

Accordingly he convened several of the brethren 
together, — Staresmore, Browne, Prior, Almey, 
Through ton, Allen, Gilbert, Farre, Goodal, and 
others. 

He explained to them the nature of a Christian 
church. " A true, visible, and ministerial church of 
Christ," he said, " is a number of faithful people 
formed by their willing consent in a spiritual out- 
ward society, or body-politic, ordinarily meeting in 
one place ; instituted by Christ in his New Testa- 
ment, and having the power to exercise ecclesiastical 
government and all God's other spiritual ordinances 
— the means of salvation, — in and for itself imme- 
diately from Christ." 



188 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

A day of solemn fasting and prayer was appointed, 
and, at the close of the exercises of devotion, each 
of the brethren made open confession of his faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ; and then, standing together, 
they joined hands and solemnly covenanted with 
each other in the presence of Almighty God, to walk 
together in all God's ways and ordinances, accord- 
ing as he had already revealed, or should further 
make known unto them." Mr. Jacob was then 
chosen their pastor by the suli'rage of the brother- 
hood, and others were appointed to the office of 
deacons, with fasting and prayer and imposition of 
hands. 

The newly organized church issued a manifesto 
in defence of the position they had taken as a 
Christian society. 

" Touching the necessity that lieth upon us, to 
obey Christ rather than man, in our using of the 
true and in refusing the contrary ecclesiastical 
ordinances : we believe that, by the word of God, 
all Christians are bound, each for his own part, to 
keep and observe, actually and perpetually, the 
affirmative ecclesiastical commandments and ordi- 
nances in the gospel, as well as the negative ; that 
is, so far as one person sufficeth to perform the same, 
singly and by himself, he ought so to- do ; and where 
some number are. required, and are ready, for tiie 
observing of any such commandment, there each 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 189 

Christian which can be present with other, standeth 
bound to give his consent, and to make one with 
them therein ; always after the best order they can, 
and namely, that main order which is in the gospel, 
notwithstanding whatsoever man's forbidding, or 
whatsoever affliction in the world shall follow upon it. 

" This direct and ordinary means of hope and 
faith, of grace and salvation, we ought to prefer 
before our life." " We are clearly commanded to obey 
God rather than man. And God commanding us 
to fear, and to love, and to serve Him ; he com- 
mandeth us the necessary means and ways of doing 
so, even that church in and by which, ordinarily, 
we must do so, that we may be accepted ; which, 
under the gospel, is such a free congregation. 

" Where we see that this only is now Christ's 
true, visible church ; and no other form of a visible 
church is ; wherefore, we are all bound, with all 
care, to hearken to the express precept of the Holy 
Ghost concerning this point, saying, ' This is the 
way, walk ye in it ; ' which also the harmony of 
confessions, teacheth ; namely, this we ought to do, 
notwithstanding men of power and might shall say 
nay. 

" Now, therefore, we demand, and do most 
earnestly crave of every impartial Christian to 
answer us. What false things have we here 
affirmed ? What, on our part, is evil ? What is 



190 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

wicked in all this ? If nothing, as we are firmly- 
persuaded in our souls that there is nothing, then 
we pray and earnestly entreat, in the bowels of 
mercy in Jesus Christ, every one to pardon our 
consciences in that, thus doing, we stand to give 
actual obedience to our heavenly Lord and Saviour 
in his own commandments and ordinances; which 
also we do, that we may thereby, as by the only 
true complete means, get assurance of salvation to 
our souls, which otherwise we, for our parts, cannot 
find." 

In an address to the king, they very justly re- 
minded His Majesty that their " meeting thus, only 
in a competent congregation," could not " in any 
way in the least measure be prejudicial or suspi- 
cious to His Highness' peace or dignity." 

There is something, when all the cncumstances 
of the case are considered, very noble in this calm 
and equable resolve of Henry Jacob. He was 
evidently a man of pacific temper, and perhaps con- 
stitutionally timid. But his allegiance to truth, on 
that account, was the more striking. Steadily he 
advanced to the point to which he was conducted 
by the pure light which shone upon him in weak- 
ness, privation, and suffering. The church he planted, 
or rather reorganized in South wark, exists to this 
day. Standing in the direct line from him in the 
pastorate, the writer of these lines craves the indul- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 191 

gence of the reader, to render a tribute to his 
memory, though it may slightly interrupt the 
course of the narrative. The continuous history of 
the church has yet to be written. Henry Jacob 
remained at his post eight years, and was followed 
in turn by John Lothrop. Both went to America 
and there died. Of the place in which Jacob 
located himself, or where he was buried, we have no 
knowledge. 

It is gratifying to discover the traces, however 
faint, of those who have advanced in the fore rank 
in the cause of truth and freedom. But the thought 
is not without interest, that an entire continent may 
be regarded as a place of sepulchre for one whose 
principles gave birth to the nation by which it is 
peopled. 

The modesty of Henry Jacob was as remarkable 
as his zeal and devotedness. " The Lord, I doubt 
not, will raise up others," he said, " that shall more 
effectually bear witness unto this truth in due time ; 
even until the toleration hereof in England. Being 
with much vehemency charged, that for no just 
cause I have refused to conform to the church order 
in England, I could therefore do no less but give 
out, yea, unto posterity^ the true and most impor- 
tant reasons of my dissenting herein." * 

* It was the lesson given by the example of the pastor of the church, 
in 1616, that impressed tlie mind of the present pastor with the sense 



192 THE HIDDEN CHTJKeH. 

of Bacred obligation, to seek the perpetuity of the church under cir- 
cumstances as trying to faith and patience, as can well be imagined in 
modern times. The old meeting-house (in a most obscm-e and forbid- 
ding spot in Union street, Southwark) was lost to the society. For 
three years the church could find no settled abode or any site of 
ground for building. In that interval of trial and of weakness, the 
most determined and persevering attempt was made to defeat the 
object. But the faithful few held on until a place was secured on wliich 
to build the " Memorial Church." 

A more simple, persevering effort for a good object was ncA'er made, 
than that of the poor members, who had little to oppose to the injuries 
they suftcred, but prayers and tears. They were not overcome. The 
visit made by the pastor in 1859 to Amei-ica, though it failed to realize 
the amount necessary to complete the memorial design, — yet saved the 
church, and preserved the property from alienation. Without the kind 
and spontaneous aid rendered by the descendants of the Pilgrims, it is 
not too much to say, that the cliurch must have succumbed beneath a 
pressure, the natm'e and severity of which the world will never know. 
The writer would have been almost content that he should have found 
a grave himself in tlie land which contains the remains of Henry Jacob 
and of John Lothrop, so tliat England might have witnessed the spon- 
taneous and successful effort of the descendants of the Pilgrims in 
America to complete this memorial. As it is, the finger of those who 
still mock at the design, as Utopian, is pointed at the fragmental build- 
ing as a failure. But the day will yet come when the work shall be 
accomplished, and the contempt of the proud will be exchanged for 
admiration at a peaceful and yet glorious demonstration, too significant 
to be mistaken. Let every reader of these lines say : " I will have a 
stone in that building," and send the tribute by tlie first post to Mr. 
W. G. Lambert, 43 Broadway, New York, or to Mr. James Lawrence, 
Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts. 



1 



XVI. 

DISCUSSIONS ON LEAVING HOLLAND. 

We resume the story. The words of Robinson 
quoted in the former chapter, " As we shall perceive 
either our flying or abiding to meet for God's glory 
and the good of men, especially of otir family and 
those nearest to us ; and for our furtherance in holi- 
ness ; and as we have strength to wade through the 
dangers of persecutions, so we are with good con- 
science to use one or other;" no doubt afford the 
clue to the movement of the Pilgrims in preparing to 
return from Holland. In their plans and arrange- 
ments they had special regard to the best interests 
of their children, in connection with the opportunities 
they might have for promoting the cause of truth. 
Bradford, with his usual clearness and simplicity, 
has told us the reasons that led to the consideration 
of the question of removal. But besides the causes 
assigned by him, we find that influences were at 
work to abridge their means of Christian usefulness, 

17 ( 193 ) 



194 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

that must have added force to their determination 
to seek another place of settlement. 

King James was so absorbed in the discussions 
which led to the Synod of Dort, that his attention 
for a time seems to have been diverted from the 
operations carried on by the Pilgrim leaders. The 
royal polemic wTote letters in French to the States- 
General calculated, as he vainly imagined, to settle 
all the questions in dispute. His self-complacency 
seems to have rendered him insensible in his domes- 
tic relations. On the day of the queen's funeral, 
the returned messenger from Holland tells us, " he 
had a most convenient occasion to get presence of 
His Majesty at Greenwich," because of the funeral 
in London, " there were none at court but the king 
and my lord admiral. His INIajesty, so far from 
yielding to grief on the occasion, was only inquisitive 
to know, from the gossiping envoy, in what estima- 
tion his theological epistles were held by the divines 
and the court of Holland." 

" He was much displeased," that more prominent 
mention had not been made of his name, for he 
considered himself the principal hero in the contest. 

The king, prompted by the bishops, as soon as 
he was apprised of the efforts made by Robinson 
and Brewster to diffuse their principles, devised 
means for their repression. 

The light which shone from Leyden was too 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 195 

effulgent for the defenders of prelacy, and no pains 
were spared that it might be quenched. 

The Pilgrims marked the course of events, and 
anticipated the dangers by which their cause was 
threatened. 

Holland had never been considered by them as 
their proper home. They were Englishmen. They 
loved the language of their country, they were 
addicted to its usages, and it was contrary to their 
most cherished predilections that their descendants 
should be merged in the Dutch nation. They were 
moreover Protestant Christians, of the class who had 
been taught to keep holy the Sabbath and to value 
its ordinances. In this respect their views were 
greatly in advance of those maintained by the con- 
tinental reformers, and it grieved them that their 
children should witness the scenes of revehy that 
were so common in Holland. Notwithstanding 
their parental care and consistent example, they 
observed, with deep and growing anxiety, that the 
youth of their company, in instances far too frequent, 
yielded to the influences around them, and became 
inoculated with the military spirit of the times and 
the love of foreign adventure. Besides all this, they 
found many of the English exiles were bent on 
returning to their own country, and that others 
would be tempted either to compromise or to con- 



lU-^ 



196 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

ceal their principles, in order to live in the land of 
their fathers' sepulchres. 

Yet in the contemplated change they did not act 
precipitately. The more thoughtful and experienced 
held private conferences. We may see them in the 
arbor in the pastor's garden. The children of 
Robinson, — John, Bridget, Isaac, Mercy, Favor, and 
Jacob, — wonder what is the topic of such close and 
earnest conversation between their father, Elder 
Brewster, John Carver, Robert Cushman, and 
William Bradford. Books of voyages are consulted. 
They are well versed in the history of the " Travels, 
Adventures, and Observations of Captain John 
Smith," Harcourt's Voyage to Guiana, the works of 
Sir Walter Raleigh and of Hakluyt. They learn 
from the Huguenot refugees in Leyden the plans of 
colonization projected by De Monts. The discov- 
eries of Henry Hudson excite great interest. Li 
1607, after taking the sacrament with his crew at 
the little church of Ethelburga, in Bishopsgate, Lon- 
don, he commenced his voyages. In his third 
voyage, which he undertook in the employ of the 
Dutch, he discovered the river called by his name. 
His journal is now before the leaders of the Pilgi'ims. 
He says : " The land is the finest for cultivation that 
I ever in my life set foot upon, and it also abounds 
in trees of every description." " The natives are a 
very good people. The climate," he adds, " is not bad, 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 197 

though sometimes colder than is pleasant." A 
trading station has just been established by the 
Dutch merchants at Manhattan, at the entrance to 
the river. There is, then, the prospect of securing a 
settlement in the western world if the path be made 
plain by the hand of Providence. They unite in 
prayer for divine direction, and it is determined to 
submit the subject to the consideration of the church. 
Maria Hardy, the maid-servant, opens the gate for 
the elder and his friends, who ponder in their hearts 
the weighty matter on their way home. They felt 
the seriousness of the business, and were alive to 
the difficulties involved in the projected undertaking, 
but they were animated by " the hope and inward 
zeal of laying some good foundation, or at least to 
make some way thereunto, for the propagating and 
advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in 
these remote parts of the world ; yea, though they 
should be but as stepping-stones unto others for 
performing of so great a work." 

The proposition to remove to America, on being 
made public, " raised many variable opinions." They 
did not conceal from the brethren the dangers of 
the expedition. The fatigue, privation, and exposure 
to the perils by sea, and by land, were depicted to 
them in the most vivid manner by those who 
objected to the enterprise. They described with 
horrible minuteness the practices of cannibalism, and 

17* 



198 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

showed what kind of death might be expected in the 
hands of cruel, barbarous, and treacherous savages. 
We can scarcely wonder that, in hearing these 
recitals, the timid began to quake and tremble. 
Besides, it was represented that a colony could not 
be planted with greater sums of money than their 
estates would command. It so happened, moreover, 
that the attempt made to make a plantation at 
Sagadahoc, though sanctioned and supported by 
men of wealth and influence in England, had re- 
sulted in the most disastrous failure. All these 
things were distinctly before the minds of the Pil- 
grims at the outset. Deliberately they- counted the 
cost. 

" It was answered, that all gi'eat and honorable 
actions were accompanied with great difficulties, 
and must be both enterprised and overcome with 
answerable courage. It was granted the dangers 
were great, but not desperate, and the difficulties 
were many, but not invincible ; for although there 
were many of them likely, yet were they not certain." 

It might be that some of the things feared might 
never befall them ; others, by providence, care, and 
the use of good means, might in a great measure 
be prevented ; and all of them, through the help of 
God, by fortitude and patience, might either be 
borne or overcome. True it was that such attempts 
were not to be made and undertaken but upon good 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 199 

ground and reason, not rashly or lightly, as many 
have done for curiosity, or hope of gain, etc. But 
their condition was not ordinary, their ends were 
good and honorable, their calling lawful and urgent, 
and therefore they might expect a blessing of God 
in their proceeding ; yea, although they should lose 
their lives in this action, yet they might have com- 
fort in the same ; and their endeavors would be 
honorable. They lived here but as men in exile and 
in a poor condition ; and as great miseries might 
possibly befall them in this place; for the twelve 
years of truce were now out, and there was nothing 
but beating of drums and preparing for war, the 
events whereof are always uncertain. The Spaniard 
might prove as cruel as the savages of America, and 
the famine and pestilence are sore here as there, and 
liberty less to look out for remedy. 

" After many other particular things answered and 
alleged on both sides, it was fully concluded by the 
major part to put this design in execution, and to 
prosecute it by the best means they could." 

They reasoned justly as to the probabilities of 
war between the Dutch and Spaniards. After an 
interval of twelve years' peace — the time the Pil- 
grims sojourned in Holland — hostilities recom- 
menced. 

The Pilgrims held a consultation as to the most 
suitable place to " pitch upon, and prepare for." ^ 



-J 



200 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Some proposed Guiana, but it was thought that 
country was rather too hot, and, if prosperous, they 
would be molested by the zealous Spaniard. 
Unlike the martyr church in London of 1593, they 
had no desire to keep a frontier line against the 
power of Spain. Vkginia was mentioned, but it 
was objected that if they were too near the English 
who were settled there, they might be more exposed 
to persecution even than in England, and if too far 
off, they should neither have succor nor defence from 
them. Finally, it was resolved " to live as a distinct 
body by themselves, under the general government 
of Virginia; and by their friends to sue to His Maj- 
esty that he would be pleased to grant them freedom 
of religion. 



XVII. 

NEGOTIATIONS AND CONCLIJSIONS CONCERNING 

VIRGINIA. 

In the autumn of 1617, Robert Cushman and 
John Carver were deputed to negotiate with the 
Virginia company, and " to procure a patent with 
as good and ample conditions as they might by any 
good means obtain." 

They took with them the following document, for 
the satisfaction of the council, to indicate how far 
they could advance, in terms of peace, consistently 
with their non-conformist principles. 

" Seven articles which the church of Leyden sent 
to the council of England, to be considered of in 
respect of their judgments occasioned about their 
going to Virginia : " 

1. To the confession of faith published in the 
name of the church of England, and to every article 
thereof we do, with the reformed churches where we 
live, and also elsewhere, assent wholly. 

2. As we do acknowledge the doctrine of faith 
there taught, so do we the fruits and effects of the 

(201 ) 



202 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

same doctrine, to the begetting of saving faith in 
thousands in the land (conformists and reformists), 
as they are called, with whom also, as with our 
brethren, we do desire to keep spiritual communion 
in peace, and will practise in our parts all lawful 
things. 

3. The king's majesty we acknowledge for su- 
preme governor in his dominion, in all causes and 
over all persons, and that none may declare or appeal 
from his authority or judgment in any cause what- 
soever, but that in all things obedience is due unto 
him, either active, if the thing commanded be not 
against God's word, or; passive if it be, except par- 
don can be obtained. 

4. We judge it lawful for His Majesty to appoint 
bishops, civil overseers, or officers in authority under 
him, in the several provinces, dioceses, congregations, 
or parishes, to oversee the churches, and govern 
them civilly, according to the laws of the land, unto 
whom they are in all things to give an account, 
and by them to be ordered according to godliness. 

5. The authority of the present bishops in the 
land we do acknowledge, so far forth as the same is 
indeed derived from His Majesty unto them, and as 
they proceed in his name, whom we will also therein 
honor in all things, and him in them. 

6. We beheve that no synod, classes, convocation, 
or assembly of ecclesiastical officers hath any power 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 203 

or authority at all, but as the same by the magistrate 
given unto them. 

7. Lastly, we desire to give unto all superiors due 
honor to preserve the unity of the spirit with all 
that fear God, to have peace with all men, what in 
us lieth, and wherein we err to be instructed by any. 
Subscribed by 

John Robinson,* 

and 
William Brewster. 

The messengers of the church in Leyden were 
not altogether strangers in London. Robinson 
acknowledged the Christian society under the pas- 
toral care of Henry Jacob, as a " true church," and 
they received, on their arrival, Christian sympathy 
from its members and cordial cooperation. Sabin 
Staresmore in particular, offered his zealous services. 

Samuel Fuller, Isaac Allerton, Degory Priest, 
Edward Winslow, and Sarah Vincent, are described 
in the records of Leyden as from London. Edward 
Southworth, whose widow, Alice, was afterwards 
married to Governor Bradford, lived at Heneage 
house in Duke's place. 

It is probable, therefore, that amongst friends and 

* This document, which is in the state paper, unfortunately is only a 
copy. Not a fragment of Robinson's handwriting is known to be in 
existence. 



204 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

relatives of the Pilgi-ims, Carver and Cushman might 
find a home. Cushman himself went from Canter- 
bury to Leyden, and, in the intervals of business, he 
*' went down," he tells us, " into Kent." 

In their visits the negotiators do not appear to 
have made any encouraging progress in their 
business. 

Willing as the representatives of the church at 
Leyden were to make all possible concessions for 
peace, and in the spirit of loyalty, they did not con- 
ceal their views of church government. In a letter 
to Sir John Worstenholme, dated Leyden, January 
27, 1617-18, one of the principal members of the 
Virginia company, they offered some explanations 
on points specified by the privy council, and on 
which unjust insinuations had been made against 
them. 

They stated that, in general, there was a resem- 
blance in the order of their church with that of the 
French reformed churches, whilst they varied in some 
respects. Sabine Staresmore presented the letter 
personally to Sir John Worstenholme, and reported 
the result of the interview (Feb. 14, 1617-18). As 
the worthy knight read the document, he said, in a 
tone somewhat impatient : " Who shaU make 
them?" 

The question had reference to the appointment 
of ministers. Staresmore repfied, that the power 



«*. 



THE HIDDEN CHUHQH. 205 

of making was in the church, to be ordained by the 
imposition of hands, by the fittest instruments they 
had. " It must be either be in the church," he 
added, " or from the pope ; and the pope is antichrist." 
This was strange doctrine to the ears of Sir John, 
and rather dangerous to broach under the circum- 
stances. " Ho ! " said he, " what the pope holds 
good (as in the Trinity), that we do well to assent 
to ; but we will not enter into the dispute now. As 
for these letters I would not show them at any hand 
lest I should spoil all. I expected these Leyden 
people would have been of the same mind with the 
archbishop as to the calling of ministers." Stares- 
more had no wish to enter further into the subject, 
and asked Sir John if he had any " very good news, 
for both the king's majesty and the bishops have 
consented. I will go to Mr. Chancellor, Sir Talke 
Greville to-day, and next week you shall hear more." 

After long suspense and great discouragements, 
those who are seeking to gain an important point, 
often mistake the first appearance of success for 
complete triumph over their difficulties. 

Cushman and Carver found a valuable and steady 
friend in Sir Edwin Sandys, the son of the arch- 
bishop of York, who held Scrooby Manor. 

Sir Edwin, writing to Robinson and Brewster 
from London, November 12, 1617, gives a favorable 
testimony to the ability and discretion of Cushman 

18 



206 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

and Carver, on their return to Leyden, though the 
expectations of the brethren there were not realized. 

Deacon Carver returned to London in the follow- 
ing month, bearing a letter from Robinson and 
Brewster to Sir Edwin Sandys, in which, after 
thankful acknowledgments of his " singular love," 
expressed in his " great care and earnest endeavor 
for their good," they state that under God, " above 
all persons and things in the world," they rely upon 
him. For his " encouragement in the work," they 
mention " these instances of inducement." 

" 1. We verily believe and trust the Lord is with 
us, unto whom and whose service we have given 
ourselves in many trials ; and that He will graciously 
prosper our endeavors according to the simplicity of 
our hearts therein. 

" 2. We are well weaned from the delicate milk 
of our mother country, and enured to the difficulties 
of a strange and hard land, which yet, in a great part, 
we have by patience overcome. 

" 3. The people are, for the body of them, indus- 
trious and frugal, we think we may safely say, as 
any company of people in the world. 

"4. We are knit together as a body, in a most 
strict and sacred bond and covenant of the Lord, of 
violation whereof we make great conscience, and 
by virtue w^hereof we hold ourselves strictly tied to 
all care of each other's good, and of the whole by 
every one, and so mutually. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 207 

" 5. Lastly, it is not with us as with other men, 
whom small things can discourage, or small discon- 
tentments cause to wish themselves at home again. 
We know our entertainment in England and in 
Holland ; we shall much prejudice both our hearts 
and means by removal ; who, if we should be driven 
to return, we should not hope to recover our pres- 
ent help and comforts, neither indeed look ever, for 
ourselves, to attain unto the like in any other place 
during our lives, which are now drawing toward 
their periods." 

" These motives," they add, " we have been bold 
to tender unto you, which you in your wisdom may 
also impart to any other of our worshipful friends of 
the Council with you ; of all whose godly disposition 
and loving toward our despised persons, we are 
most glad, and shall not fail, by all good means, to 
continue and increase the same." 

We know^ little of the course of the negotiators 
from Leyden in their second visit to London. They 
were " much hindered " and discouraged. The con- 
sent given by the bishops to their enterprise must 
have been nominal, or, at least, they were unwilling 
that those who were interested should meet to seek 
the divine blessing. From a letter written under- 
great affliction from the prison in Wood street, by 
Sabine Staresmore, we learn that he and several 
brethren in London met with Richard Masterson, a 



208 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

member of the church at Leyden, and others for 
fasting and prayer. The meeting was discovered. 
Staresmore and Mr. Blackwell from Amsterdam 
were taken prisoners. To screen himself, Blackwell 
informed against Masterson, and to " obtain his ow^n 
freedom brought others into bonds." 

He "so won the bishop's favors (but lost the 
Lord's) as Bradford tells us, as he was not only dis- 
missed, but in open court the archbishop gave him 
great applause and his solemn blessing to proceed 
in his voyage." 

The report of these disheartening circumstances 
was communicated to the church at Plymouth, and 
V in view of them, " a day of humiliation was appointed 
to seek the Lord for his direction." 

" The pastor took the text, 1 Sam. xxiii. 3, 4 : ' And 
David's men said unto him, see, we be afraid here 
in Judah, how much more if we come to Keilah 
against the host of the Philistines ? Then David 
asked counsel of the Lord again,' etc. From which 
text he taught many things very aptly, and befitting 
their present occasion and condition, strengthening 
them against their fears and perplexities, and encour- 
aging them in their resolutions. After which they 
concluded both what number and what persons 
should prepare themselves to go with the first; for 
.all that were willing to have gone could not get 
ready for their other affairs in so short a time ; 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 209 

neither if all could have been ready, had there been 
means to have transported them altogether. Those 
that stayed, being the greater number, required the 
pastor to stay with them; and indeed for other 
reasons he could not then well go, and so it was the 
more easily yielded unto. The other then desired 
the elder, Mr. Brewster, to go with them, which was 
also consented unto. It was also agreed on, by 
mutual consent and covenant, that those that went 
should be an absolute church of themselves, as well 
as those that stayed ; seeing in such a dangerous 
voyage, and a removal to such a distance, it might 
come to pass they should (for the body of them) 
never meet again in this world ; yet with this 
proviso, that as any of the rest came over to them, 
or of the other returned upon occasion, they should 
be reputed as members, without any further dismis- 
sion or testimonial. It was also promised to those 
that were first, by the body of the rest, that if the 
Lord gave them life, and means, and opportunity, 
they would come to them as soon as they could." 

18* 



v^ 



XVIII. 

BREWER AND BREWSTER, THE BROWNIST 
PRINTERS. 

The interruption in the course of the anxious 
negotiations for the means of departure to America, 
caused by the proceedings of the English authorities 
in reference to Brewster and his partner in the print- 
ing establishment, claims special and more extended 
notice than it has hitherto received. If we suspend 
the narrative to enter circumstantially into this 
peculiar case, it must be remembered that there was 
a practical diversion in it from the object sought by 
the Pilgrims. 

Thomas Brewer, who supplied to Brewster the 
capital for the printing-office, was a man of high 
respectability, and a member of the university at 
Leyden. There was no reason to warrant the charge, 
brought either against Brewster or his patron, of 
violating the law. At the instance of the English 
authorities, a regulation had been made to prevent 
the further printing of English books in favor of 
non-conformity. On the promulgation of that order, 

* (210) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 211 

Brewster ceased to print works of the kind prohibited. 
Sir Dudley Carleton, the ambassador, demanded that 
he should be arrested nevertheless, in order to an 
investigation. His own search for him was most 
persevering. On the 19th of July, 1619, Matthew 
Slade writes from Amsterdam to Sir Dudley : * " I 
have made the best inquiry that I could concerning 
William Brew^ster amongst them that know him 
well; but cannot hear otherwise than that he is 
yet dwelling and resident at Leyden. Neither is it 
likely that he will remove his dwelling hitlier, there 
being another English printer, named William Thorp, 
also a Brownist, settled here. If he lurk here, for 
fear of apprehension, it will be hard to find him." 

Three days after this communication (July 22, 
1619), in writing to Secretary Naunton, from the 
Hague, the ambassador says : " One William 
Brewster, a Brownist, hath been for some years an 
inhabitant and printer at Leyden, but is now within 
three weeks removed from thence, and gone back to 
dwell in London, where he may be found out and 
examined." " Aug. 20. I have made good inquiry 
after William Brewster, at Leyden, and am well 
assured that he is not returned thither ; neither is it 
likely he will, having removed from thence his family 
and goods." " Sep. 12. In my last I advertised 
your honor that Brewster was taken at Leyden ; 

* State Paper, MSS. 



212 THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 

which proved an error, in that the scout, who was 
employed by the magistrates for his apprehension, 
being a dull, drunken fellow, took one man for 
another. But Brewer, who set him on work, and 
being a man of means, bare the charge of his print- 
ing, is fast in the University's prison ; and his printing 
letters, which were found in his house in a gaiTet, 
where he had hid them, and his books and papers, 
are all sealed up. I expect to-morrow to receive his 
voluntary confession of such books as he hath caused 
to be printed by Brewster, for this year and a half or 
two years past." 

No time was lost in pressing the case as against 
Brewer. The university having exclusive jurisdic- 
/ tion, civil and criminal, over its members, took 
cognizance of the complaint of the ambassador 
against the printer. An English agent was sent by 
Sir Dudley Carleton to watch the proceedings. On 
the 18th September, 1619, he writes to Secretary 
Naunton : " I advertised your honor of Brewer's 
being laid fast in the university's prison at Leyden. 
I have sent an advocate of this town, who under- 
stands our language, and a servant of mine, expressly 
to visit his books and papers, and to present certain 
interrogatories to those who examine him. Whereof 
I send your honor the translates with his answers, 
which are so indirect that they give no man satisfac- 
tion that sees them, and therefore I have now used 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 213 

the Prince of Orange's authority, who hath spoken 
to the rector of the university, not to give the pris- 
oner liberty until His Majesty's pleasure be known 
concerning him, which the rector doth promise shall 
be fulfilled, notwithstanding that the whole company 
of Brownists doth offer caution for Brewer, and he 
being a university man, the scholars are likewise 
stirred up by the Brownists to plead privilege in that 
kind." 

The Schepens and council wrote September 19, 
1619, "to Jacob Von Brouchhoven, deputy coun- 
cillor of their High Mightinesses," in the following 
terms : 

" We have to-day summoned into our presence 
Thomas Brewer, an Englishman, and he being heard, 
we learn that his business heretofore has been print- 
ing, or having printing done, but in consequence of 
the pubUcation of the placaat in relation to the 
printing of books, he had stopped the printing-office, 
which was at that time mostly his own ; and that 
his partner was a certain William Brewster, who 
was also in town at present, but sick. We have 
therefore resolved, after having communicated with 
the Rector Magnificus (the head of the university) 
to deliver the said Thomas * Brewer, who is a mem- 
ber of the university, in the place where it is the 

^ The name is given variously in the records William and Thomas, 
but properly it was Thomas Brewer. 



214 THE niDDEX CHURCH. 

custom to bring the members thereof; and in regard 
to William Brewster, to bring him, inasmuch as he 
is sick, into the debtor's chamber, provisionally, 
where he went voluntarily. Of which things we 
have thought proper to inform you, and to await 
further orders in the matter." 

The " Schepens and council," though not 
" drunken," seem to have been as " dull " as the 
" schout." They were equally mistaken, with the 
othcer, as to the apprehension of Brewster. 

They apologized to Brouchhoven on the 23d of 
September. " We have," they write, " this day, in 
consequence of your letter, summoned the officer, 
and strongly enjoined upon him to do his best to 
an-est William Brewster, in whose person he was 
mistaken, which he has promised to do, but at the 
same time said he had heard that the said William 
Brewster had already left. A meeting was held 
to-day at the rector's, in regard to the case of 
Thomas Brewer." 

The prisoner now being in the charge of the 
university, they proceeded to impound his effects ; 
the following is from the " criminal and civil record : " 

" Upon the application of Loth Huyghensz Gael, 
baihtf of the university, to have an assessor and 
schepenmaster, to assist him in seizing the types 
of Thomas Brewer, a member of said university, 
now in prison, and in searchmg his library for any 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 215 

works printed or caused to be printed by him within 
a year and a half or thereabouts, and in seizing the 
same, and in examining him as to what books he 
has printed or caused to be printed within a year 
and a half, either in English or in other languages, 
the rector and judges of the said university have 
appointed, and by these presents do appoint, Dr. 
Johannes Polyander, assessor, and Dr. Gulielmus 
Bontius, schepenmaster, provisionally only, for the 
seizm-e of the type and searching of the library 
aforesaid, and seizing the books. 

" In pursuance whereof the types found in the 
garret are seized, the great door nailed in two places, 
and the seal of the said ofScer, impressed in green 
wax over paper, is placed upon the lock and nails ; a 
catalogue is made of the books ; and the chamber, 
where the same were found, is sealed with the afore- 
said seal upon the lock and nails. Done the 21st 
September, 1619. In my presence, J. Ver\^ey." 

Two days after, the waiTanl was issued to examine 
Brewer : 

" On this 23d ' September, 1619, the hofnorable 
rector and judges of the university in the city of 
Leyden have, upon the application of Loth Huy- 
ghensz Gael, bailiff of the university, appointed, and 
by Ihese presents do appoint. Dr. Cornehs S wane- 
burg assessor, and Dr. Gulielmus Bontius schepen- 
master, to examine Thomas Brewer, in custody 



216 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

of the said bailiff, as to what books he has within 
a year and a half past printed, or caused to be 
printed, in the Latin, English, or other languages ; 
and the said assessor and Jan Bout Jacobsz, schepen- 
master, shall cause the type of the said Brewer which 
have been seized, to be brought, for better keeping, 
from his house to the University rooms. Which is 
accordingly done the day and year aforesaid in my 
presence, Jacob J. Vervey." 

~ The great offence which the English ambassador 
was anxious to prove against the Pilgrim printer 
was, that of allowing his press to be used by the 
Presbyterians of Scotland, when they were denied 
an opportunity to print works, in defence of their 
views, in their own country. Two books in partic- 
ular Sir Dudley mentions : De Reg-imine Ecclesice 
Scotiance and the Perth Assembly/, " of which," says 
the offended ambassador, " if he was not the printer 
himself, he assuredly knows both the printer and the 
author." Because of this suspicion, he was deter- 
mined, if possible, to get Brewster within his grasp. 
He was completely foiled, and, disappointed in his 
prey, he resolved to torment Brewer. 

Sir Dudley Carleton writes to Secretary Naunton, 
Nov. 3, 1619 : 

" Right Honorable, — One of the curators and 
rector of the University of Leyden, with Polyander 



1 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 217 

and Heinsius, came to me on Monday last, being 
the first of this present, expressly from Leyden, to let 
me know their resolution to send Brewer into Eng- 
land ; which, for preservation of the privileges of 
their university, they made appeal unto me, by a 
writing unto Brewer's hand, to proceed of his own 
desire, as a dutiful subject to His Majesty, and will- 
ing to give His Majesty all satisfaction. But first, 
he required of them in the said writing to be assured 
it is His Majesty's own pleasure to have him sent ; 
next, that he may go as a free man, under caution 
of his lands and goods, not as a prisoner; then, that 
he may not be punished, during his abode in Eng- 
land, either in body or goods ; and that he may be 
suffered to return hither in a competent time; and 
lastly, that his journey be without his own charge. 

" These things were requested of me by the 
curator, the rector, and the rest in his behalf; where- 
in I made them this verbal promise, without being 
further moved by any of them (as I was formerly) 
to give them any act in writing ; that for the first, 
it was His Majesty's will and pleasure, which I might 
better assure them, having the same now a second 
time reiterated unto me by your honor's letters of 
the 23d of October, which at that instant I received. 
Next, that if they would take caution of him of his 
lands and goods for his rendering himself to His Maj- 
esty in England, I left it to their discretions ; but to 

19 



218 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

send him as a free man could not well be, as long 
as he remained in reatu. 

" Then, that for his body and goods, during his 
abode in England, I undertook he should not be 
touched (being so warranted by your honor's former 
letters of the 21st of September), and for his return, 
that it should be within the space of three months 
at the furthest, and sooner, if he dealt ingenuously 
and freely in his confession. 

" Touching the charge of his journey, I made no 
difficulty to free both him and them thereof, not 
doubting but His Majesty will be pleased to allow 
it; so as there remaining this only point of difference 
between us, whether he should go as a prisoner, or 
as a free man ; in the end we concluded of a middle 
way betwixt both, that he should go snb libera cms- 
todici, being attended from Ley den to Rotterdam by 
one of the beadles, with another officer of the 
University, and be there delivered to some such 
person as I should appoint for his safe convoy into 
England, where I have undertaken for him, he shall 
not be cast into any common prison, nor be ill used ; 
though, for his liberty, I let them know he must not 
expect it, but according as he shall merit it by the 
satisfaction he shall give His Majesty ; wherein if he 
fail of what he now seems willing to perform, the 
fear of being returned back hither again to the place 
where he hath lain ever since his first apprehension, 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 219 

> 

and where he may be long enough, unless he be 
delivered by His Majesty's grace and favor, will be a 
sufficient torture. But, on the other side, if he carry 
himself well and dutifully, I will beseech your honor 
to be a means to His Majesty, that he may be well 
treated, and sent back with contentment ; the rather, 
because he hath taken his resolution of presenting 
himself unto His Majesty against the minds of some 
stiffiiecked men in Leyden, who endeavored to 
dissuade him. And it will give all inferior persons 
encouragement by his example, according to the 
like occasions, willingly to submit themselves ; he 
being a gentleman of a good house, both of land and 
living; which none of his profession in these parts 
are ; though through the reveries of his religion (he 
being, as I advertised your honor, a professed Brown- 
ist) he hath mortgaged and consumed a great part of 
his estate." 

Carleton writes November 28, 1619 : " The States' 
fleet now prepared against the pirates could not 
possibly put to sea until this day ; which is the first 
easterly wind we have had for these six weeks 
past. 

" I hope it will carry over Sir William Zouch with 
Mr. Brewer to your honor, who have lain long 
together at Flushing ; and his fellow Brownists at 
Leyden are somewhat scandalized, because they 
hear Sir William hath taught him to drink health." 



220 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Sir Dudley Carleton writes to Secretary Naunton, 
January 29, 1619-20 : " I have acquainted the cura- 
tors of the University of Leyden with the good 
treatment which hath been given unto Brewer, far 
beyond his deserving, and with his delivery ; for 
which they render His Majesty humble thanks, and 
at his return hither, unless he undertake to them to 
do his uttermost in finding out Brewster (wherein 
I will not fail likewise of all other endeavors), he is 
not like to be at liberty; the suspicion whereof, I 
believe, keeps him from hence, for as yet he appears 
not in these parts." 

The university authorities calmly asserted their 
rights, and would not surrender Brewer to the impe- 
rious demand of. Sir Dudle}^, without some guarantee 
for his return to Holland in safety. Their virtual 
protest against his violence is recorded in the register 
of the university. 

" At an extraordinary meeting of the curators and 
burgomasters held on the 21st of October, 1619, — 

" It being represented to the curators and burgo- 
masters that the ambassador of His Royal Majesty, 
the king of Great Britain, requested that Thomas 
Brewer, English gentleman, who is now confined in 
the prison of the university upon the complaint of 
the said ambassador, by order of the rector and 
assessors, might be taken from here to His Royal 
Majesty in England, it is resolved, after consulting 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 221 

with the rector and assessors, that the said Brewer 
shall still be offered, as before, to the said ambassa- 
dor for further examination in the presence of any 
one whom His Excellency may be pleased to appoint, 
or he shall go before His Excellency himself, or, 
otherwise, a proper obligation shall be demanded 
from His Excellency, to the effect that the said 
Brewer shall be restored here again within two 
months, which he not consenting to, the matter must 
be referred to the high and mighty lords the States 
of Holland and West Friesland." 

With a certain nobleness strongly contrasted with 
the spy-like manoeuvres of his persecutors. Brewer 
offered to go to the king of England, and to meet 
any inquiry, so that he were not ensnared, on a mere 
pretence, into the power of the bishops. 

Apparently for his own protection, the magistrates 
of Leyden required of Brewer, that he should enter 
into a bond to return to the country. 

" Before the undersigned, assessor of the Univer- 
sity and schepenmaster in the city of Leyden, 
appeared Thomas Brewer, English gentleman, a 
member of the said university, at present detained 
in custody by the bailiff of the same, and declared 
that whereas he has determined, upon the urgent 
desire of His Royal Majesty of Great Britain, to 
betake himself voluntarily unto His Majesty, and 
is permitted to make the journey in honorable com- 

19* 



222 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

pany : therefore he has bound himself, and hereby 
does bind himself, to go upon the said journey, and 
here again to return in the company which shall be 
provided for him, as well on behalf of the honorable 
rector and judges of the said university, as of the 
ambassador of His Majesty; and to be faithful 
hereto, without going off or leaving, directly or 
indii'ectly, in any manner, under penalty of his 
person and property, movable and unmovable, 
present or future, and rights of action and claims, 
nothing excepted, and wheresoever the same may be, 
being subject to the execution of all laws and judges. 
All in good faith and without fraud. Done the 12th 
of November, 1619. 

" (sd.) Swanenburg. D. Van Alphen." 

These preliminaries being settled. Brewer, in the 
company of his friends, departed from Leyden on the 
same day, to commit himself to the " honorable " 
charge of Sir W. Zouche. Writing from Rotter- 
dam, November 13, 1619, to Sir Dudley Carleton, 
Sir William says: " I was last night almost out of 
hope of having my expected company, but about ten 
of the clock, Mr. Brewer arrived, conveyed hitherto 
by the beadle of the University, Mr. Robinson and 
Mr. Kebel, accompanied by two other of his friends. 
Their names I think are not worth the asking. We 
go forward about two or three of the clock. K we 
find not a boat, we intend to be at Dort this night. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 223 

The gentleman seems very ready and willing to go 
with me, and hath good hope of his despatch and 
happy issue, if he be not referred to the judgment 
of the bishops, concerning which he says he made 
caution before his departure, and if you have not 
written so much already, he desires you will do so 
when you write next to Mr. Secretary. He excuses 
his long stay by reason of the sudden warning he 
had to provide him. He demanded of me if I had 
order to defray him. I have told him, yes. He is 
contented, but says it was not his desire, nor men- 
tioned by him. I assure your Lordship I will make 
no delay, but take the speediest opportunities to be 
rid of this employment." 

A brief original note in French dated " De Leyde^ 
16 de Nov., 1619, au Myn Heer Carleton^'' shows 
that Polyander was in communication with the 
English ambassador on the subject. 

Rough weather detained Brewer some time longer 
in Holland, and, during this interval, his friends made 
strenuous efforts to obtain his freedom. In a second 
letter to Sir Dudley from Flushing (26 of Novem- 
ber, 1619), Sir William Zouche says : 

^' I have waited a wind these ten days, but can get 
none good, nor fair weather. No day hath passed 
without a storm, and some of them so rude, as the 
streets in some places have run with salt-water that 
hath scaled the walls, and in other it hath made 



224 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

pools and lakes, and kept the people within their 
own doors. A ship, with a mast lost, brought news 
of a tilt-boat drowned, wherein were above thirty 
of them, — about seven saved. George Martin is 
this day arrived, having been nine days between 
Rotterdam and here. , I have had scarce any oppor- 
tunity to go over into Flanders, and Mr. Brewer is 
very unwilling to go that way in this bad weather. 
He hath many friends in Middleboro, and those 
exceeding earnest in his cause, as the treasurer- 
general, his brother, the chief of the reckon chamber, 
and his other brother, a minister (their name is 
Teebake), and one Mr. Vosberg, chief reckon master, 
who was on the way toward Holland to speak to 
His Excellency on Mi'. Brewer's behalf, and to have 
advised him to have challenged the privileges of the 
university and of the town, by which he should 
have had his trial there. They told me many stories 
of it, and how an earl of Holland had been denied to 
have a prisoner out of the town. I was on Monday, 
was sevennight, invited to dinner by them, wherein 
they did expostulate in the business ; as how great 
a power our king hath here as to have a prisoner 
(after he had been kept in prison longer than the 
law of the land doth allow) to be sent to him almost 
with breach of their privileges, and that he shall ever 
have the same power, if he perform the conditions 
made by your Lordship, his ambassador (who will 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 225 

not abuse them, but have authority from His Majesty 
for all goods). But if the conditions are broken, 
they will be more wary to satisfy his demand again 
in the same kind, or to trust your Lordship ; and if 
there be any occasion, they will write and send in 
his behalf, and have persuaded me to signify so 
much to His Majesty. I have promised to tell so 
much to Mr. Secretary and to the king, if it please 
him to question with me concerning him. Otherwise 
I durst not of myself, speak with him about it. I 
was much importuned as if I had been a great man, 
and have had many promises of their loves and 
friendship, if I can show him any, and they being 
my lords and paymasters may do it if it please 
them." 

What reception Brewer met with in England is 
unknown to us. Sir Dudley, in a letter dated Jan. 
19, 1620, says : " Unless Brewer undertakes to do 
his uttermost in finding out Brewster (wherein I 
will not fail likewise of all other endeavors), he is 
not like to be at liberty ; the suspicion whereof keeps 
him from hence, for as yet he appears not in these 
parts." 

The following entry in the Leyden records shows 
that the press was watched with sleepless care. 

" At a meeting held the 9th of May, 1620." " A 
certain memorial of the Ambassador Carleton is read 
to the effect that the types and papers of Brewer 



226 THE HIDDEN CHUKCH. 

might remain in keeping here. It is resolved to keep 
the said types as hitherto." 

We might almost imagine that the whole move- 
I ment of the ambassador and his party was intended 
to prevent the Pilgrims from taking the printing 
materials to America. Brewer returned to Leyden. 
It is stated that, in 1627, he sold out his property 
and effects in Leyden, and returned to England. In a 
memorandum, in the state paper office, London, dated 
September 16, 1626, we read that Thomas Brewer 
coming not long since from Amsterdam, where he 
became a perfect Brownist, and being a man of good 
estate, is the general patron of the Kentish Brown- 
ists ; who (by his means) daily and dangerously 
increase, the said Brewer hath provided a most 
pestilent book beyond the seas. " One Turner of 
Sutton Valance in Kent, seems to be a chaplain of 
his, and preaches in houses, barns, and woods." 

" He hath many followers and is maintained prin- 
cipally by the said Thomas Brewer." He was not 
suffered to remain long unmolested after his return 
from Holland. Archbishop Laud cast him into 
prison where he remained nearly fourteen years, and 
was liberated by an order from the House of Com- 
mons, November 28, 1640. What if Brewster had 
been seized instead of Brewer? Would he have 
commanded the same influence in Holland ? 

Not being a member of the university, would he 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 227 

have had the same support against the demands 
of the ambassador? Once in the power of the 
bishops in England, would he have experienced the 
same fate as that of Brewer at a later period ? If 
so, what would have been the effect on the Pilgrim 
enterprise ? On a thread so slender were suspended 
the destinies of the people ^vho laid the foundation 
of American greatness. Who can fail to recognize 
the hand of God in directing their course, amidst 
all their weakness and peril ? 



XIX. 

CUSHMAN'S NEGOTIATIONS.— THE MAYFLOWER. 

Brewster is safe in London, but Cushman writes, 
he is " not well at this time ; whether he will come 
back to you or go into the north, I yet know not." 
Brewster scarcely knows himself in what direction 
to return from his pursuers. Carver, in attending to 
matters at Southampton, was absent frequently from 
London. 

The conduct of affairs with the Virginia company 
and the merchant adventurers, devolved mainly on 
Cushman. " In all businesses," Bradford says, 
*' the acting part is most difficult." The more ener- 
getic messenger of the Leyden church had to do the 
work in London, and, as a natural consequence, to 
bear the blame. 

The first point was to obtain a patent from the 
Virginia company. Unhappily, the company was 
so agitated by internal dissensions, that it w^as 
extremely difficult to obtain a hearing for any busi- 
ness whatever. Sir Edwin Sandys, the patron of 

(228) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 229 

the Pilgrims, became obnoxious to the king. Under 
these circumstances, it is a wonder that the applica- 
tion, in reference to their proposal to emigrate, was 
received with the slightest favor. Success in the 
negotiation would be altogether unaccountable, if 
we did not know the financial exigencies of the 
company. Vast sums of money had been expended 
previously in attempts " to make a plantation," 
without a single satisfactory result. The power, 
wisdom, and enterprise of the first men of their age, 
had proved ineffectual for the accomplishment of 
an object, nevertheless intensely desired. The Vir- 
ginia company had all the means and appliances 
for colonization, — except suitable men willing to 
go out and form a settlement. Men they wanted 
who would take root in the country, finding a home 
in any clime, from the stability of their habits, the 
warmth of their affections, and the simplicity of their 
object; — men of sound mind, clear conscience,, firm 
purpose, all-enduring patience, of practical skill and 
persevering diligence; — men who would give them- 
selves to the work of colonization for the advantage 
of posterity, and who had no thought or desire to 
return laden with the material wealth that would 
add to their personal consequence or social distinc- 
tion at home ; — men who had crucified the love of 
ease, and in whom was quenched the lust of fame ; 
— men willing to be forgotten or unknown, so that 

20 



v^ 



230 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

they might lay in silence and obscurity the founda- 
tions of a superstructure that should remain to the 
end of time. Such men had been called into exist- 
ence for a quarter of a century or more, and were 
willing to expatriate themselves under any condi- 
tions that were practicable and compatible with 
their sense of moral rectitude. 

But from the veil of prejudice that obscured their 
vision, they could not recognize them in their true 
character. It never occurred to promoters of colo- 
nization that people who would lose reputation, and 
suffer the loss of home, of personal freedom, to 
linger in loathsome dungeons, or die on the gibbet, 
rather than violate conscience in relation to the 
worship of God, must have the stamina of principle 
required for this peculiar service. 

They spurned the petition sent to them in 1592 
from those who were " falsely called Brownists," 
and, in the mean time, tried every class of adventures 
that might be lured to the new world by illusive 
expectation of finding " Paradise regained," or 
exhaustless mines of gold. The ridiculous failure 
at Sagadahoc of the famous expedition promoted 
by Lord Chief Justice Popham, the judge who 
condemned Penry to die, the disasters at James- 
town, and the more recent ill-fated voyages which 
caused so much odium in London, destroyed confi- 
dence in all such schemes. They began to fear that 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 231 

the most wretched class of persons would prefer to 
stay in England, than to venture to wdld and deso- 
late regions in which so many had perished, or who 
had sent tidings to their friends so melancholy and 
disheartening. 

Even Sir Edwin Sandys proposed to enforce the 
transportation of a hundred miserable children in 
the streets of London, who were unwilling to go, in 
the hope that they might make pioneers in Virginia. 
" Under severe masters," he says, " they might be 
brought to goodness." 

We must not blame too severely these Elizabethan 
sages for their want of discernment, and their slow- 
ness of apprehension under the instruction of the 
royal " Solomon " who succeeded the virgin queen. 
After the experience of three centuries, the states- 
men of England have yet to learn fully, that 
conscientiousness in matters of religion is no just 
cause for political or social disability. There are 
still not a few who speak of nonconformity as 
" rebellion " against the church established by act 
of parliament. 

If the council of Virginia could have acted with 
transparent honesty, and if their sentiments might 
have been spoken frankly, and in unison with the 
facts of the case, there would have been no necessity 
for the Pilgrim negotiators to represent their views 
with so much secresy and caution, and through 



232 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

second parties. The president of the council might 
have said : " Let John Carver, Robert Cushman, and 
William Brewster come into the council room. 
(They need not kneel.) Representatives of the 
English exiles in Leyden. Speaking for ourselves 
and for the English court, we greet you well. 

" It goeth hard with us that we should ever have 
to malve use of a " Brownist," in trying to make 
a plantation. But we are shut up to this course. 
We hung some of your fathers, and we starved 
others in the prisons of this city. We banished 
many of your company to Newfoundland, and we 
have tried to make your exile in Holland as uncom- 
fortable as we had the power to do. Our aim has 
been to destroy you, but we have failed in this 
object, and we hear that your numbers are rather 
increasing. Our efforts have been also directed to 
plant colonies in the world which lieth to the w^est. 
We advised with Lord Bacon and Sir Walter 
Raleigh. We sent out our best commanders, and 
furnished the ships with stores of provisions. That 
the planters might not be discoiu-aged, we ordered 
the vessels to return with fresh supplies, but the 
new settlers took the first opportunity to come 
back. In these two things we have been disap- 
pointed ; we have not utterly suppressed your con- 
venticles, and we have not made a settlement in 
America. You shall go there, since you wish it. 



THE HIDDEN CHUIICH. 233 

The lord bishops have tried to make you hypocrites 
that you may do less harm. But if you will not 
say that you believe things contrary to your real 
convictions, in this emergency the court of King 
James and the Virginia company will excuse you." 

No speech of this kind has been found in the 
national archives. What may exist " in cipher " we 
cannot tell. Sir Ferdinand© Gorges, however, who 
is a most competent witness, gives us a fair idea 
of the argument which ultimately prevailed with 
the Virginia company. 

With admirable naivete Sir Ferdinando tells us : 
the Virginia company "were forced, through the 
great charge they had been at, to hearken to any 
propositions that might give ease and furtherance to 
so hopeful business. To that purpose it was referred 
to their considerations how necessary it was, that 
means might be used to draw into those enterprises 
some of those families that had retired themselves 
into Holland for scruple, of conscience, giving them 
such freedom and liberty as might stand with their 
likings. This advice being hearkened unto, there 
were that undertook the putting it in practice." 

A patent was at length obtained under the seal 
of the Virginia company, " not taken in the name 
of their own company, but in the name of Mr. John 
Wincob, a religious gentleman then belonging to 
the Countess of Lincoln, who intended to go with 

20* 



^ 



W 



234 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

them." As the lands conveyed by it were not 
occupied, it never acquired practical value. They 
had in this, as in all other things, to rest on God's 
providence. 

The opposition of the " powers and principalities " 
being so far neutralized, Cushman sought to effect 
the best arrangement with the merchant adventurers 
for raising the needful capital. The position of 
Cushman was trying. He stood alone, and had to 
reconcile conflicting interests. He showed the arti- 
cles of the Pilgrims (left in his care by Carver) to 
Mr. Weston one of the principal adventurers, but he 
strongly disapproved of their proposition to acquire 
separate property in the first instance, and to be 
masters of a certain portion of then- time. On hear- 
ing of this clause, Sir George Farrer and his brother 
withdrew 500/. from the undertaking. To have 
pressed the condition would have been to alienate 
the rest of the adventurers. Rather than abandon 
the design at the last moment, Cushman consented 
to the only terms on which the necessary coopera- 
tion of the adventurers could be obtained. They 
wanted security for the advancement of their capi- 
tal, and since the Pilgrims had no property to offer 
for that purpose, Cushman agreed to mortgage their 
labor for seven years, and to allow their stock with 
improvements, to remain for that term, prior to its 
distribution according to the amount of shares. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 235 

The brethren at Leyden were dissatisfied, and 
their disappointment was the greater from the offer 
of better terms made to them by the Dutch: In a 
joint letter, dated June 10, 1620, Samuel Fuller, 
William Bradford, Isaac Allerton, and Edward 
Winslow, addressed a serious remonstrance to 
Carver and Cushman, requiring them not to exceed 
the bounds of their commission. 

Four days after, Robinson wrote to Carver, 
expressing his regret and disappointment in the 
terms agreed upon by Cushman. ^' Mr. Weston," 
he says, " makes himself merry with our endeavors 
about buying a ship, but we have done nothing in 
this but with good reason, as I am persuaded, nor 
yet that I know in any thing else, save in these two : 
the one, that we employed Robert Cushman, who 
is known (though a good man, and of special abili- 
ties in his kind, yet) most unfit to deal for other men, 
by reason of his singularity and too great indifferency 
for any conditions, and for (to speak truly) we have 
had nothing from him but terms and presumptions. 

" The other, that we have so much relied, by 
implicit faith, as it were, upon generalities, without 
seeing the particular course and means for so 
weighty an affair set down unto us." 

After all, it is fairly questionable, whether any of 
the Pilgrim brethren would have acted with equal 
vigor and discretion. At a subsequent stage in the 



236 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

proceedings, the entire company offered what they 
considered to be an amendment on Cushman's 
agreement, which, if acted upon, would have involved 
them in far greater trouble and difficulty. They 
lived to do justice to his integrity and decision, and 
spoke of him as their " right hand man " in these 
transactions. His case affords an instructive exam- 
ple of the advantage secured by thorough honesty 
of purpose, in perplexing and critical affairs, when 
the highest worldly sagacity alone would fail. 

Cushman replied to the " paper of reasons framed 
against the clause in the conditions " in two letters. 
The first of these communications Carver judiciously 
kept back to avoid giving offence. The writer felt 
deeply, and expressed his mind freely. He w^ii 
almost worn out with the trials and distractions he 
had borne alone in London for many months. 

" Neither my mind nor my body," he says, " is at 
liberty to do much, for I am fettered with business, 
and had rather study to be quiet, than to make 
answer to their exceptions." His first thought, on 
receiving the complaining letters, was to relinquish 
the business altogether. " The many discourage- 
ments I find here," he writes, "together with the 
demurs and retirings there, made me to say, I would 
give up my accounts to John Carver, and at his 
coming acquaint him fully with all my courses, and 
so leave it quite, with only the poor clothes on my 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 237 

back. But, gathering up myself by further consid- 
eration, I resolved to make one trial more, and to 
acquaint Mr. Weston with the fainted state of our 
business ; and though he hath been much discon- 
tented at some things amongst us of late, which 
hath made him often say that, save for his purpose, 
he would not meddle at all with the business any 
more, yet, considering how far we were plunged into 
matters, and how it stood both on our credits and 
undoing, at the last he gathered up himself a little 
more, and coming to me two hours after, he told me 
he would not leave it. And so advising together 
we resolved to hire a ship, and have took liking of 
one (the Mayflower) till Monday, about 60 last,* for v^ 
a greater we cannot get, except it be too great ; but 
a fine ship it is." 

How much depends upon a man " gathering 
himself up " in time. Cushman had relieved his 
mind by writing the letter to the Pilgrims, though 
they did not receive it. He had answered their 
objections in his own style, and felt he could breathe 
more freely. For example, amongst other things 
they had said : " This will hinder the building of 
good and fair houses, contrary to the advice of 
politics." Cushman replied : " So we would have 
it; our purpose is to build for the present such 
houses as, if need be, we may with little grief set 

* About 120 tons. 



238 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

a fire, and run away by the light ; our riches shall 
not be in pomp, but in strength ; if God send us 
riches, we will employ them to provide more men, 
ships, munition, etc. You may see it among the 
n1 best politics, that a commonwealth is readier to ebb 
than to flow, when once fine houses and gay clothes 
come up." 

Refreshed by these utterances, Cushman set about 
completing the bargain for the Mayflower, and hired 
Mr. Clark as pilot, who had been to Virginia the 
year before. 

Carver wrote to Cushman to complain of his neg- 
ligence, but the summer was passing away, and 
Cushman felt no time should be lost in recrimina- 
tion. In reply from London, June 10, 1620, he said: 
" All that I have power to do here, shall not be one 
hour behind, I warrant you." " I have received from 
Leyden, since you went, three or four letters directed 
to you, though they only concern me. I will not 
trouble you with them. 

" We have reckoned, it should seem, without our 
host; and, counting upon 150 persons, there cannot 
be found above 1200/. and odd moneys of all the 
ventures you can reckon, besides some cloth, stock- 
ings, and shoes, which are not counted ; so we shall 
come short 300/. or 400/." He tells Carver that he. 
will obtain more money, and concludes : " For Mr. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 239 

Crab (the minister), of whom you write, he hath 
promised to go with us, yet I tell you I shall not be 
without fear till I see him shipped, for he is much 
opposed, yet I hope he will not fail. Think the best 
of all, and bear with patience what is wanting, and 
the Lord guide us all." 



XX. 



THE DEBARKATION FROM LEYDEK 

The Mayflower sailed from the Thames. No 
^ vessel ever left the port of London, the name of 
which is associated with such undying interest. 
Yet we are left to conjecture the circumstances of 
her departure. Was Sabin Staresmore (the active 
and faithful member of the church in Southwarlc, 
who had rendered such untiring service for the 
messengers from Leyden), liberated from prison ? 
Did Henry Jacob, with the members of his flock, 
come to bid farewell to the Pilgrims from London ? 
Were Mr. Sherley, Mr. Hatherly, Mr. Andrews, and 
Mr. Hatherly the friendly adventurers, who were 
merchants in the city, present ? "No man know- 
eth." It was the purpose of Him who " bringelh 
to nought things that are, by things that are not," 
to suffer the ship, since ^ so renowned, to leave her 
moorings without notice or record, and to glide 
down the river as the most ordinary craft that ever 
sailed. Yet, if the brethren met for prayer in Lon- 

(2i0) 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 241 

don with their companions in the faith and patience 
of Jesus, when they began to negotiate with the 
Virginia company, we must believe that their hearts 
were uplifted, though it might be in silence, for a 
blessing on the enterprise, and that they wept in 
sympathy and affection for those who ventnred 
themselves in the memorable voyage. The " men 
of Kent " were deeply interested in the undertaking, 
and surely at Greenwich the friends of Cushman 
would come to cheer him on, and join in saying 
with him, " a fine ship she is." 

At Leyden the Pilgrims had liberty to meet for 
prayer without the danger of imprisonment, or of 
being pelted by an ignorant and bigoted mob. 

Any stranger who passed through the street in 
which stands the ancient church of St. Peters, on 
the 20th of July, 1620, must have stayed awhile to 
listen to the strains of vocal melody, sounding v 
sweetly from the large house of the pastor near the 
belfry. It is toward evening. The day has been 
spent in the religious exercises which, according to 
the custom of the Pilgrims, preceded every new 
undertaking. 

In the morning Robinson spoke to them at con- 
siderable length from Ezra viii, 21. " And there, at 
the river Chava, I proclaimed a fast, that we might 
humble ourselves before our God, and seek of Him 

21 



24^ THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

a right way for us and for our children, and for aU 
our substance." 

" Amongst other wholesome instructions and 
exhortations," Winslow tells us, he said : 

" We are now erelong to part asunder, and the 
Lord knoweth whether ever he should live to see 
our faces again. But whether the Lord had 
appointed it or not, he charged us, before God and 
his blessed angels, to follow him no further than he 
followed Christ ; and if God should reveal any thing 
to us by any other instrument of his, to be ready to 
receive it as ever we were to receive any truth by 
his ministry ; for he was very confident the Lord 
had more truth and light to break forth out of His 
holy word. He took occasion, also, miserably to 
bewail the state and condition of the reformed 
churches, who were come to a period in religion, 
and would go no further than the instruments of 
their reformation. 

" As, for example, the Lutherans, they could not 
be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw ; for what- 
ever part of God's will he had further imparted and 
revealed to Calvin, they will rather die than embrace 
it.- And so also, saith he, you see the Calvinists, 
they stick where he left them ; a misery much to be 
lamented ; for though they were precious shining 
lights in their times, yet God had not revealed his 
whole will to them ; and were they now living, 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 243 

saith he, they would be as ready and willing to 
embrace further light as that they had received. 
Here also he put us in mind of our church covenant, 
at least that part of it whereby we promise and 
covenant with God and one with another, to receive 
whatsoever light or truth shall be made known to 
us from His written word ; but withal exhorted us 
to take heed what we received for truth, and well to 
examine and compare it and weigh it with other 
Scriptures of truth before we received it. For, saith 
he, it is not possible the Christian world should 
come so lately out of such thick antichristian dark- 
ness, and that full perfection of knowledge should 
break forth at once. 

" Another thing he commended to us, was that 
we should use all means to avoid and shake off the 
name of Brownist, being a mere nickname and 
brand to make religion odious, and the professors 
of it to the Christian world. And to that end, said 
he, I should be glad if some godly minister would 
go over with you before my coming ; there will be 
no difference between the unconformable ministers 
(the Puritans) and you, when they come to the 
practice of the ordinances out of the kingdom ; and 
so advised us by all means to close with the godly 
party of the kingdom of England, and rather to 
study union than diversion, namely, how near we 
might possibly without sin close with them, than in 



^/' 



244 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

the least measure to affect division or separation 
from them. And be not loath to take another pastor 
or teacher, saith he ; for that flock that hath two 
shepherds is not endangered, but secured by it." 

One portion of the counsel of Robinson has 
received more attention than another part of it, with 
which, however, it stands essentially connected. 

Our progress may be at " express " rate, but it 
will be seen, on a careful examination of the words 
of Robinson, that he does not recommend us to go 
" off the line." 

The thoughts of the morrow, and of its sad part- 
ings, would arise in the midst of the pastor's sage 
discourse, and tears flowed abundantly. 

But, says Winslow, " we refreshed ourselves, after 
tears, with singing of psalms, making joyful melody 
in our hearts, as well as with the voice, there being 
many of our congregation very expert in music ; 
and indeed it was the sweetest melody than ever 
mine ears heard." 

On the following day (July 21, 1620), the emi- 
grant party, " accompanied with most of their 
brethren out of the city," took their journey to Delft- 
haven on the Meuse, a distance of fourteen miles, 
where the Speedwell (a vessel of 60 tuns) was ready 
to receive them. 

" So they left that goodly and pleasant city, 
which had been their resting-place near twelve 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 245 

years ; but they knew they were Pilgrims^ and 
looked not much on those things, but lift up their 
eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and 
quieted their spirits. 

" When they came to the place, they found the 
ship and all things ready; and such of their friends 
as could not come with them followed after them, 
and sundry also came from Amsterdam (thirty-six 
miles distant) to see them shipped, and to take leave 
of them. That night was spent with little sleep by 
the most, but with friendly entertainment and 
Christian love. The next day (July 22, 1620), the 
wind being fair, they went aboard, and their friends 
with them, where truly doleful was the sight of that 
sad and mournful parting ; to see what sights and 
sobs and prayers did sound amongst them, what 
tears did gush from every eye, and pithy speeches 
pierced each heart; that sundry of the Dutch 
strangers, that stood on the quay as spectators, could 
not refrain from tears. Yet comfortable and sweet 
it was to see such lively expressions of dear and 
unfeigned love. But the tide (which stays for no 
man) calling them away that were thus loathe to 
depart, their reverend pastor falling down on his 
knees (and they all with him), with watery cheeks 
commended them wilh most fervent prayers to the 
Lord and his blessing. And thus with mutual 

embraces and many tears, they took their leaves one 

21* • 



V 



246 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

of another, which proved to be the last leave to 
many of them.^ 

Finally the ship was cleared, and the sails hoisted. 
A volley of small shot and three pieces of ordnance 
were fired, and the Pilgrims left the harbor. With 
a prosperous wind they came in a short time to 
Southampton, where they found the Mayflower 
" come from London, lying ready, with all the rest 
of their company." " After a joyful welcome and 
mutual congratulations, with other friendly enter- 
tainments, they fell to parley about their business, 
how to despatch with the best expedition ; as also 
with their agents, about the alteration of their con- 
ditions. Mr. Carver pleaded he was employed here 
at Southampton, and knew not well what the other 
had done at London. Mr. Cushman answered, he 
had done nothing but what he was urged to, partly 
by the grounds of equity, and more especially by 
necessity ; otherwise all had been dashed and many 
undone." 

Mr. Weston came from London to see them 
despatched, and to have the conditions confirmed. 
The Pilgrims declined, on the ground that they were 
not according to the original agreement, neither 
could they yield to them without the consent of the 
rest that were behind. Mr. Weston was " much 
offended, and told them they must look to stand on 
their own legs. So he returned in displeasure." 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 247 

" And whereas they wanted well near 1001. to clear 
things at their going away, he would not take order 
to disburse a penny, but left them shift as they 
could. So they were forced to sell some of their 
provisions to stop this gap, which was some three 
or four score firkins of butter, which commodity 
they might best spare, having provided too large a 
quantity of that kind." 

To counteract the influence of the angry Mr. 
Weston, the Pilgrims wrote a letter August 3, 1620, 
to the merchant adventurers in London, explaining 
the case, closing in this strain : " We are in such a 
strait at present, as we are forced to sell away 60Z. 
worth of our provisions to clear the haven, and 
withal put ourselves upon great extremities, scarce 
having any butter, no oil, not a shoe to mend a 
shoe, nor every man a sword to his side, wanting 
many muskets, much armor, etc. And yet we are 
willing to expose ourselves to such imminent dan- 
gers as are like to ensue, and trust to the good 
providence of God, rather than his name and truth 
should be evil spoken of for us. Thus saluting all 
of you in love, and beseeching the Lord to give a 
blessing to our endeavor, and keep all our hearts in 
the bonds of peace, we take leave and rest." 

The loss of the butter and the want of muskets, 
perhaps, on the whole, was better for them. 

Five days after the sailing of the Speedwell from 



248 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Delft Haven (July 27, 1620), Robinson, in his 
thoughtful kindness, wrote a letter to Carver enclos- 
ing " a large letter to the whole," admirably adapted 
to tranquillize and sustain their minds amidst these 
perplexities and troubles. 

To Carver, Robinson says : " My dear brother, — 
I have a true feeling of your perplexity of mind and 
toil of body, but I hope that you, who have always 
been able so plentifully to administer comfort unto 
others in these trials, are so well furnished for your- 
self, as that far greater difficulties than you have yet 
undergone (though I conceive them to have been 
great enough), cannot oppress you, though they 
press you, as the apostle speaketh. ^ The spirit of 
a man (sustained by the Spirit of God) will sustain 
his infirmities,' Prov. xviii. 14. I doubt not, so will 

yours My heart is with you. . . . The Lord 

in whom you trust, and whom you serve, ever in 
this business and journey, guide you with His hand, 
protect you with His love, and show us. His salva- 
tion in the end, and bring us in the mean while 
together in the place desired (if such be His good 
will), for His Christ's sake, amen." 

The letter of Robinson to the Pilgrim emigrants 
is full of tenderness and wisdom. " Loving Chris- 
tian friends," he says, " I do humbly and in the 
Lord salute you, as being those with whom I am 
present in my best affections, and most earnest long- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 249 

ings after you, though I be constrained for a while 
to be bodily absent from you. I say constrained, 
God knowing how willingly, and much rather than 
otherwise, I would have borne my part with you in 
this first brunt, were I not by strong necessity held 
back for the present. Make account of me, in the 
mean while, as of a man divided in myself with great 
pain, and as (natural bonds aside) having my better 
part with you." He enjoins to review their repent- 
ance, and to be careful and diligent in self-examina- 
tion. "Sin being taken away by earnest repentance, 
and the pardon thereof from the Lord sealed up 
unto a man's conscience by His spirit, great shall 
be his security and peace in all dangers, sweet his 
comforts in all distresses, with happy deliverance 
from all evil, whether in life or in death." 

" Next, after this heavenly peace with God and 
our own consciences, we are carefully to provide for 
peace with all men, what in us lieth, especially with 
our associates." ..." In my own experience, few 
or none have been found which sooner give offence, 
than such as easily take it ; neither have they ever 
proved sound and profitable members in society, 
which have nourished this touchy humor." 

He warned them against private ends, " as a deadly 
plague." " As men are careful not to have a new 
house shaken with any violence, before it be well 
settled, and the parts firmly knit, so be you, I 



250 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

beseech you, brethren, much more careful that the 
house of God, which you are, and are to be, be not 
shaken with unnecessary novelties, or other opposi- 
tions at the first settling thereof." In the choice of 
governors he recommended them not to follow the 
" foolish multitude, who more honor the gay coat 
than either the virtuous mind of the man, or glorious 
ordinance of the Lord." 

" These few things I do earnestly commend unto 
your care and conscience, joining therewith my 
daily incessant prayers unto the Lord, that He who 
hath made the heavens and the earth, the sea and 
aU rivers of waters, and whose providence is over 
all His works, especially over all His dear children 
for good, would so guide and guard you in your 
ways, as inwardly by His spirit, so outwardly by 
the hand of His power, as that both you and we 
also, for and with you, may have after matter of 
praising His name all the days of your and our 
lives. Fare you well, in Him, in whom you trust 
and in whom I rest. An unfeigned well wisher of 
your happy success in this hopeful voyage." 



XXL 

THE VOYAGE AND THE LANDING. 

On the 5th of August, the Mayflower and the 
Speedwell left Southampton, pleasantly sailing in 
company down the river, past the beautiful shores 
of the Isle of Wight, and through the Needles to 
the open sea. 

The Leyden Pilgrims, for the most part, were in 
the Speedwell, the rest of the company were better 
accommodated in the larger vessel. The mind of 
Cushman, for a time, seems to have been utterly 
broken down. He had fought the battle with con- 
flicting parties, and been somewhat severely rebuked 
by his dissatisfied brethren, and now that matters 
were decided, he naturally felt the reaction. Every 
thing on board the Speedw^ell was uncomfortable ; 
and the master of the ship, being under engagement 
to remain a year at the service of the Pilgrims, 
began to anticipate the effect of an inadequate sup- 
ply of provisions. 

The vessel sprung a-leak, and the passengers were 

(251 ) 



252 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

alarmed in consequence for their safety. It was 
deemed advisable to put into the romantic bay of 
Dartmouth, on the coast of Devonshire, for repairs 
(Aug. 13). Here, after they had rested four days, 
Cushman gave vent to his feelings in a letter to his 
friend, Edward Southwark, of Heneage House, 
Duke's Place, London : " Dartmouth, August 17. 
Loving friend, my most kind remembrance to you 
and your wife, with loving S. M. etc., whom in this 
world I never look to see again. For, besides the 
imminent dangers of this voyage, which are no less 
than deadly, an infirmity of body hath seized me, 
which will not in all likelihood leave me till death. 
What to call it I know not, but it is a bundle of 
lead, as it were, crushing my heart more and more 
these fourteen days, as that although I do the actions 
of a living man, yet I am but as dead ; but the will 
of God be done." He then proceeds to give a 
melancholy account of the Speedivell. She would 
make no speed at all. " We lay at Hampton seven 
days, in fair weather, waiting for her, and now we 
be here waiting for her in as fair a wind as can 
blow, and so have done these four days, and are 
likely to lie four more, and by that time the wind 
will happily turn, as it did at Hampton." " She is 
open and leaky as a sieve." " If we had stayed at 
sea but three or four hours more, she would have 
sunk right down." In this deplorable state, we are 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 253 

not surprised that Cushman should take gloomy 
views of the enterprise. He had no idea, however, 
that Bradford would ever publish his letter. 
" Friend," he says, " if ever we make a plantation, 
God works a miracle ; especially considering how 
scant we be of victuals." With the Psalmist he 
adds, in effect, " This is my infirmity." " Pass by 
my weak manner, for my head is weak, and my 
body feel^le ; the Lord make me strong in Him, and 
keep both you and yours." 

Things were not improved when the ships sailed 
from Dartmouth. The disasters of the Speedwell 
compelled them to put in at Plymouth. It is pleas- 
ant to know that the Pilgrims received much 
kindness from Christian people there during the 
time of their detention. The Speedwell was again 
examined, and her ailment was pronounced to be 
that of a " general weakness." It was determined 
to prosecute the voyage with the Mayfloiver alone, 
and to give an opportunity for those who desired it 
to return. About twenty persons availed themselves 
of the option given. Some of thesje, however, had 
members of their family in the Mayflower^ and went 
in the next ship, the Fortune, from London. The 
choice, to some extent, there is reason to suppose 
would be determined by the means they had of 
providing for themselves a home in England. 
Cushman, who never expected to sec his friends in 

22 



254 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

London, must have surprised them by his early- 
reappearance. He recovered from his heart com- 
phiint, and became a faithful and valuable helper 
afterwards. 

Finally, the Mayflower left the shores of England, 
on the 6th of September, to encounter the terrible 
gales of the Atlantic with 101 passengers. Her 
condition was far from being sound. At one time 
one of the main braces of the ship gave way, and a 
serious consultation was entered into to consider 
whether they should go forward or return. A great 
ii'on screw, brought by the Pilgrims out of Holland, 
raised it to its place, and with a post under it, the 
cracked girder was set firm in the lower deck. 

" Methinks I see it now, that one solitary, adven- 
turous vessel, the Mayfloiccr of a forlorn hope, 
freighted with the prospects of a future State, and 
bound across the unknown sea. I behold it pursu- 
ing, with a thousand misgivings, the uncertain, 
tedious vovasfe. Suns rise and set, and weeks and 
months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, 
but brings them not the sight of the wished-for 
shore. I see them scantily supplied with provisions, 
crowded almost to suffocation in their ill-stored 
prison ; delayed by calms ; pm*suing a circuitous 
route ; and now driven in fury before the raging 
tempest, on the liigh and giddy waves. The awful 
voice of the storm howls through the rigging ; the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 255 

laboring masts seem straining from their base ; the 
dismal sound of the pump is heai'd ; the ship leaps, 
as it were, madly from billow to billow ; the ocean 
breaks, and settles, with engulfing floods over the 
floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering 
weight against the staggered vessel." * 

Yet the fragile bark held on to the destined haven. 
On the 9th of November (the day after the battle 
of Prague), the storm-tossed Pilgrims first sighted 
land at Cape Cod. The prospect before them was 
cheerless in the extreme. Andrew Marvell wrote a 
poem, which some unacquainted with the " wild 
New England shore," suppose to have been descrip- 
tive of the landing of the Pilgrims. The following 
indicate its character : 

" He lands us on a grassy stage, 
Safe from the storm's and prelate's rage. 
He gave us the eternal spring, 
Which here enamels every thing ; 
And sends the fowls to us in care, 
On daily visits through the air. 
He hangs in shades the orange bright, 
Like golden lamps in a green night ; 
And does in the pomegranate close, 
Jewels more rich than Urmus shows. 
He makes the figs our mouths to meet; 
And throws the melons a* our feet. 
« « « « « 

* Everett. 



256 THE HIDDEN CHURCH 

" Thus sang they, in the English boat, 
A holy and a oheerful note ; 
And all the way, to guide their chime, 
With falling oars they kept the time." 

Far different was the desolate and wintry scene 
presented to the view of the Pilgrims. " Which 
way soever they turned their eye," says Bradford, 
"(save upward to the heavens,) they could have 
little solace or comfort in respect of any outward 
objects. For summer being done, all things stand 
upon them with a weather-beaten face ; and the 
whole country, full of woods and thicket, represented 
a wild and savage hue." 

To those who look for the first time upon the 
" weather-beaten face " of that dreary coast at such 
a season. Spring seems almost to be an impossibility. 
Certainly there was nothing inviting in natural 
scenery. " Not only the softer delights of pastoral 
loveliness, but those grander developments, which at 
least dignify nature in some of the severest manifes- 
tations of her infinite moods, were equally wanting. 
No awful and cloud-crowned mountain, luminous 
with perpetual snows, ghttered upon their enchanted 
vision ; no meadows before theii eyes, enamelled 
with aramanthine flowers ; no rivers, clearer and 
purer than the bountiful bosom of maternal earth 
ordinarily vouchsafes, sparkled between emerald 
banks and over golden sands ; nor could they promise 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 257 

themselves to wander amidst consecrated groves, 
resonant with the intermingled harmonies of airy 
melodies, and loaded with the lingering odors of a 
myriad fragrant beds of spontaneous bloom beneath. 
But they saw before them the low swell of the 
yellow sand heap, and the dreariness of winter 
settling down in browner shadows upon the more 
distant hills ; instead of the lustrous gleam that rolls 
with the under-current of the azure river, blending 
its blue to the gold, only the new-formed ice that 
glittered upon the margin of every standing pool, — 
for meads embroidered with luxuriant flowers of 
every softest tint or deeper dye, nothing but the 
level of the desolate marsh, stretching far away, 
crested only with its unsightly patches of ragged 
sedge, and for the lulling music of arcadian woods, 
no song but the solemn requiem of long-departed 
summer, breathed by the rising winds, in no gentle 
tones, to the responsive sighings of the November 
pines.'' * 

And yet beneath the whole canopy of heaven, 
there was no spot more adapted to become the home 
of the pioneers of freedom, than the quiet and almost 
land-locked harbor within the bay to which the 
prow of the Mayflower was now turned. They 
expected, indeed, to have entered into the waters 
around the Island of Manhattan, beautiful as the 

* Lunt. 

22* 



258 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

Bay of Naples, and leading to the river Hudson, 
where the lovers of the picturesque may find as 
much to satisfy as on the Rhine at Coblentz, or in 
the majestic Rhone. But the Unseen Hand deter- 
mined the course of the vessel to the destined haven. 

Here they would find provision for their imme- 
diate wants in the fish and game, the supply of 
which was abundant. There were beautiful springs 
of water. They would find shelter from the stormy 
blast on the slope of the hills. The Indians had 
been reduced in number by the ravages of a plague 
some years before. With the untra versed continent 
on one side, and three thousand miles of ocean on 
the other, they were safe from the rage of persecu- 
tion, and, at the same time, there was nothmg to 
tempt the cupidity of men in quest of gain. 

On the discovery of their position at Cape Cod, 
Bradford tells us, " after some dehberation had 
amongst themselves and with the master of the 
ship, they tacked about, and resolved to stand for 
the southward (the wind and weather being fair), to 
find some place about Hudson river for their habi- 
tation. But after they had sailed that course about 
half the day, they fell amongst dangerous shoals 
and breakers, and they were so far entangled there- 
with as they conceived themselves in great danger ;* 

* Twice the French made fruitless attempts to form a settlement at 
Cape Cod. De Mouts, in 1605, with forty emigrants, came to this 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 259 

and the wind shrinking upon them withal, they 
resolved to bear up again for the cape, and thought 
themselves happy to get out of those dangers before 
night overtook them, as by God's providence they 
did." " Being thus arrived in a good harbor and 
brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees, and 
blessed the God of heaven who had brought them 
over the vast and perilous ocean, and delivered them 
from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set 
their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper 
element." 

On the 11th of November, in conformity with 
their original purpose to " form a body politic," and 
to suppress rising disaffection, the following consti- 
tution was adopted and signed in the cabin of the 
Mayflower : 

*'Sn tl]e name of (3oh, ^men. 

" We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal 

subjects of our dread sovereign lord. King James, 

by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and 

Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having 

point, which they called Malebarre, but feared to land from the num- 
ber of Indians. In 1606, Pourdrincourt, with Champlain, Champdore, 
renewed the colonizing effort. They were entangled among shoals, 
as soon as they came in sight of the cape, their rudder was broken, 
and they were obliged to anchor three leagues from the land. His 
men wantonly provoked a conflict with the natives. Lives were sacri- 
ficed on both sides, and the enterprise in consequence abandoned. 



260 TnE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement 
of the Christian faith, and moreover of our king 
and country, a voyage, to plant the first colony in 
the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, 
solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and 
of one another, covenant and combine ourselves 
together into a civil body politic, for our better 
ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the 
end aforesaid, and by virtue hereof to enact, consti- 
tute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, 
acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as 
shall be thought most meet and convenient for the 
general good of the colony ; unto which we promise 
all due submission and obedience. In witness 
whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names, 
at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of 
the reign of our sovereign lord, King James of 
England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and 
of Scotland the fifty -fourth, Anno Domini, 1620." 

Bradford gives us to understand that the adoption 
of this famous compact was hastened from the 
mutinous speeches of strangers, who had joined 
their company. They said " when they came ashore 
they would use their own liberty ; for none had 
power to command them, the patent they had being 
for Virginia and for New England, which belong 
to another government, with which the Virginia 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 261 

company had nothing to do." This excuse for 
rebellion was more ingenious than sound, for there 
still remained the obligations of morality, which are 
not confined within certain parallels of latitude. 
However, this act passed by the Pilgrim legislators 
was considered by them " as* firm as any patent, 
and in some respects more sure." 

Carver was chosen, or rather confirmed as gover- 
nor for the year. 

The " body politic," notwithstanding, were very 
much at the mercy of Mr. Jones, the master of the 
ship. 

Indeed, there is reason to believe that he was 
chief of the mutineers. He and his company told 
the Pilgrims " that with speed they should look out 
a place with their shallop, where they would be at 
some near distance ; for the season was such as he 
would not stir from thence, till a safe harbor was 
discovered by them where they would be, and he 
might go without danger ; and that victuals con- 
sumed apace, but he must and would keep suflicient 
for themselves and their return. Yea, it was mut- 
tered by some, that if they got not a place in time, 
they would turn them and their goods ashore and 
leave them." 

Unfortunately, the shallop was not in a fit state 
for the cruise of discovery, and the carpenter was 
such a bungler, that it took him six days to put it in 



262 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

^ repair. On the day the compact was signed, sixteen 
men were landed to explore the country. At night 
they returned with juniper wood as fuel, not having 
met with houses or inhabitants. Impatient of 
delay, some of the people volunteered to make a 
further exploration by land to find a place suitable 
for settlement. Their proposal was deemed to be 
too hazardous, but " seeing them resolute, they were 
permitted to go." 

" Sixteen men were sent out, with every man his 
musket, sword, and corslet, under the conduct of 
Captain Miles Standish,'* with William Bradford, 
Stephen Hopkins, and Edward Tilley, to act as 
councillors. The party returned on the 17th of 
November, and announced their arrival, by firing 
their pieces. The longboat was put out, with Mr. 
Carver and Mi\ Jones to receive them. They 
reported that they had seen a few Indians, and had 
met with springs of water and a heap of corn. The 
discovery of the corn they regarded as a special 
providence, as it supplied them with season the next 
year. They were careful afterwards to make the 
Indians full compensation. Some heaps of sand 
excited their curiosity. Digging into one of them 
they found a bow and arrows, as they supposed, 
" but," they say, " because we deemed them graves, 
we put in the bow again, and made it up as it was, 
and left the rest untouched, because we thought it 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 263 

would be odious unto them to ransack their sepul- 
chres." 

On the 27th of November, the shallop being 
repaired, a second expedition of thirty-four men 
staid for further discovery. In compliment for his 
"kindness and forwardness," Mr. Jones was 
appointed leader. Ten sailors were included in the 
foraging party. They had to wade to the shore, 
and on the first day and niglit were exposed to a 
violent snowstorm. They marched six or seven 
miles exposed to the bitter blast, and from the 
severity of which they found little protection at 
night. About eleven o'clock in the morning of the 
next day they rejoined the shallop, and sailed to 
what is now called Pamet river. Here they landed 
and traversed the country on its bank, some four or 
five miles. Night grew on, and the men were tired 
^ith marching up and down the steep hills and deep 
valleys (of Truro), which lay half a foot thick with 
snow. Some proposed to go further, but Mr. Jones, 
wearied with the excursion, preferred to take up 
their lodging. Under a few pine-trees they made 
their rendezvous, and enjoyed a splendid supper of 
" three fat geese and six ducks," having fasted all 
day. 

After this indulgence they rather faltered in their 
resolution next morning, and, instead of tracing the 
river to its source, they went to look after the corn. 



264 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

" Mr. Jones was earnest to go aboard." They sent 
him home with the sick and the weakest of their 
company, in charge of the corn. Eighteen remained 
on shore, having a strong desire " to make fm'ther 
discovery, and to find out the Indians' habitations." 

They found, in the course of their wandering, a 
place covered with boards. " We mused," they tell 
us, " what it could be." Their curiosity got the better 
of a proper regard for the sanctity of the sepulchre, 
for it proved to be an Indian cemetery. Having 
once begun to dig, they did not stop until they had 
examined its contents. The trinkets, no doubt, 
stimulated their research. Some of the " prettiest 
things " they brought away, and then closed up 
carefully the mound. In the same spirit of adven- 
ture and curiosity, when ranging about, two of the 
sailors entered two deserted dwellings of the Indians, 
and brought away various curiosities. These trans- 
actions were by no means satisfactory, though they 
say they intended "to have brought some beads and 
other things to have left in the houses, in sign of 
peace, and that we meant to truck with them." Li 
extenuation, it is only right to say that the first time 
they had an opportunity, they explained their object 
to the Indians, and gave them full satisfaction. 

Resting awhile, after these expeditions, the Pilgrims 
then held a council, " what to do touching " their 
final place of abode. The " heart of winter " was 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 265 

upon them. The stores of provision were rap- 
idly diminished, and Mr. Jones might again be 
restless. Some thought it best to abide at Cape 
Cod. Others suggested that a better place might 
be found, and in particular that they might find 
springs of water that would not be dried up in 
summer. 

Robert Coppin, the pilot, told them a story " of a 
great navigable river and good harbor in the other 
headland of the bay (Manomet point), almost right 
over against Cape Cod, being in a right line not 
much above eight leagues distant, in which he had 
been once." On the 6th of December, ten of the 
Pilgrims, Captain Standish, Mr. Carver, William 
Bradford, Edward Winslovv, John Tilley, Edward 
Tilley, John Howland, with Richard Warren, Stephen 
Hopkins and Edward Dotey (of London), and two 
of their own seamen, accompanied by two mates of 
the ship's company, Mr. Clarke and Mr. Coppen, 
the master gunner, and three sailors, launched from 
the ship in quest of a resting-place. 

So extreme was the cold, that the spray of the sea, 
as it fell upon them, became ice, and gave them the 
appearance of men encased in glass. As they 
skirted along the coast they observed ten or twelve 
Indians, and tried to find a landing-place where they 
might avoid them. With great difficulty they got 
on shore late at night, and made themselves a barri- 

23 



266 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

cade with logs and boughs, and appointed a sentinel 
to watch against the Indians, whose fires they 
observed in the distance. On the morning of the 
7th of December, they divided their company, " some 
to coast along the shore in the boat, and the rest 
marched through the woods to see the land, if any 
fit place might be for their dwelling." " They 
ranged up and down all that day, but found no 
people nor any place they liked. When the sun 
grew low, they hasted out of the woods to meet 
with their shallop, to whom they made signs to come 
to them in a creek hard by, which they did at high- 
water." They were glad to meet, " for they had 
not seen each other all that day, since the morning." 
Erecting a barricade, as usual, they betook them- 
selves to rest, for they were very weary. About 
midnight they were alarmed by a hideous yell. 
The sentinel called, " Arm ! arm ! " They stood to 
their arms, and " shot a couple of muskets, and then 
the noise ceased." " They concluded it was a 
company of wolves, for one of the seamen told them 
he had often heard such a noise in Newfoundland." 
They rose at five in the morning, on the 8th of 
December, and continued in their prayers till day- 
break. As they were preparing for breakfast and 
for further exploration — and some had carried their 
armor to the shore, and were returning — an unex- 
pected and strange outcry was heard. One of the 



1 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 267 

company being absent came running in, exclaimed 
" Indians I Indians ! " on which the arrows came 
flying thickly among them. Captain Standish, 
having his piece in readiness, fired at the enemy ; 
they rushed to arms, and returned the flight of arrows 
with a discharge of musketry. During this encounter, 
on the part of the infantry, there was a mimic naval 
engagement. The militarit Pilgrims on shore called 
to their brethren in the shallop, " to know how it 
was with them." They answered, " Well I well ! " 
every one, and " Be of good courage." " We heard," 
says the historian of the fight, " three of th^ir pieces 
go off", and the rest called for a firebrand to light 
their matches. One took a log out of the fire on his 
shoulder, and went and carried it unto them ; w^hich 
was thought did not little discourage our enemies." 
The list of casualties happily was slight. " Some 
coats hung up in the barricado were shot through 
and through," but none of the Pilgrim army were 
hurt, and there is reason to hope that the Indians 
escaped equally without loss. A sachem, indeed, is 
supposed to have been wounded from the noise he 
made, but there is no certainty that his " extraor- 
dinary cry " arose from any shot having taken eflect. 
The Indians retreated, and the company under 
Miles Standish followed them very cautiously about 
a quarter of a mile. " Then," says the annalist, 
" we shouted all together two several times, and shot 



268 THE HIDDEN CHUKCn. 

off a couple of muskets, and so returned. This we 
did that they might see we were not afraid of them 
nor discouraged." The Pilgrims gave thanks to 
God for their deliverance ; gathered up a bundle of 
arrows to send to England, and in commemoration 
of the event called that place " the first encounter." 
Sailing away from the scene of conflict, Bradford 
tells us " the wind was fair, and they coasted along 
(from Eastham to Manomet) about fifteen leagues ; 
but saw neither river or creek to put into." In the 
afternoon the weather changed, the wind also, and 
the rain fell in torrents. The sea began to be rough, 
and the hinges of the rudder were broken. (They 
were nearing the mouth of Plymouth Bay.) Coppen 
the pilot said, " be of good cheer ! I see the harbor ! " 
The shades of night gathered round them. The 
storm-tossed bark missed its course, and instead of 
entering Plymouth Bay was driven furiously toward 
a dangerous cove (between Gurnish Head and 
Saquish Point). The reliance of the crew is on the 
pilot, so he stands at the bows peering anxiously 
through the driving sleet at the wild and desolate 
shore, dimly visible. A terrific blast from the north 
strikes the boat, the mast is rent in three pieces, and 
the sail falls overboard, but the flood tide sweeps 
them on. In a fright the pilot exclaims, " The Lord 
be merciful unto us, I never saw that place before." 
A few minutes more and all may be lost. " About 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 269 

with her," cries one of the sailors, " as you are men." 
With all their might they strain the oars and wrench 
the quivering vessel from the breakers. 

" It was very drnk, and rained sore, yet in the end 
they got under the lee of a small island (Clarke's 
Island), and remained there all night in safety." 
They knew not that the place was an island until 
mornino^. Some of their number hesitated to land 
for fear of the Indians. The rest came on shore, 
and with difficulty made a fire (all things being so 
wet), and the rest were glad to come to them, for 
after midnight the wind shifted to the north-west, 
and it froze hard. Bat though it had been a day 
and night of much trouble and danger unto them, 
yet God gave them a morning of comfort and 
refreshing (as usually he doth to his children), for 
the next day was a fair sunshining day, and they 
found themselves to be on an island secure from the 
Indians, where they might dry their stuff, fix their 
pieces, and rest themselves, and gave God thanks 
for his mercies, in their manifold deliverances. And 
this being the last day of the week, Dec. 9, they 
prepared to keep the Sabbath. 

On this Patmos of the New World, the Sabbath 
(Dec. 10) dawned upon the Pilgrim leaders in peace 
and in blessing. 

The sacred day, since they left the shores of Eng- 
land, had been spent on board the Mayflower^ but 

23* 



270 THE HIDDEN CIIURCn. 

now, beneath the shelter of a gray rock, they met for 
worship. 

That memorable rock still remains, situated near 
the ridge, on the eastern slope of the island. Its 
highest point, on the downhill side, is twelve feet 
from the ground. The western side slopes gradually 
toward the rising ground, easily accessible to the 
platform on the summit, which commands a view of 
the bay and its surrounding shores, the island lying 
in the midst. Gurnet and Manomet and the ocean 
beyond, and sometimes the far distant bluffs of Cape 
Cod. Here was the sentinel stationed, whilst the 
remainder of the party, shielded from the cold north- 
erly and easterly winds by the rock, and on the west 
by the rise of the hill, lay safely under the warm 
southern lee. 

Carver, Bradford, and Winslow, were well able 
to conduct the worship. The prayers they offered 
that day will yet receive their answers for many 
generations to come. They exhorted one another 
in the " sincerity of the gospel," and 

" Shook the depths of the desei-ts gloom, 
With their hymns of lofty cheer." 

On Monday, the 11th of December, 1620, they 
sounded the harbor, and found it fit for shipping; 
and marched into the land, and found divers corn- 
fields and little running brooks, a place (as they 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 271 

supposed) fit for situation ; at least it was the best 
they could find, and the season and their present 
necessity made them glad to accept of it. So they 
returned to their ship again with this news to the 
rest of their people, which did much comfort their 
hearts. 

On the 15th of December, they weighed anchor to 
go to the place they had discovered, and canie 
within two leagues of it, but were fain to bear up 
again ; but the 16th day the wind became fair, and 
they arrived safe in the harbor. And afterwards 
took better view of the place, and resolved where to 
pitch their dwelling. And the 25th day, began to 
erect the first house for common use (twenty feet 
square), " to receive them and their goods." 

Their ranks were soon thinned by sickness and 
mortality. Bradford, Standish, Allerton, and Wins- 
low, were all left widowers in the course of a few 
weeks. Six died in December ; eight in January ; 
seventeen • in February ; and thirteen in March. 
Fifty in all, out of 101, fell in the course of the 
winter. So many, that their graves were smoothed 
that the Indians might not count their number. 

In the extremity of their distress, there were but " six 
or seven sound persons," who did " all the homely 
and necessary offices " for the sick. The " living 
were scarce able to bury the dead." The condition 
of the ship's crew was little better. Muskets could 



272 THE HIDDEN" CHURCH. 

avail little at such a time as a protection against the 
Indians, yet, with the exception of the loss of tools, 
they suffered no injury from them. To their relief 
and surprise, Samoset, Sagamore of Pemaquid, 
came " boldly amongst them, and spoke to them in 
broken English, and told them of another Indian, 
called Squanto, who had been in London, in the 
employment of Mr. Slaney, and was brought back 
to his native country by Mr. Dermer." Through 
the spontaneous and kind intervention of Samoset, 
an important treaty of peace was made between 
Massasoit, the neighboring Indian chief, and the 
Pilgrims. Squanto gave them useful directions in 
preparing the ground for crops. On the return of 
spring, the Pilgrim settlers were a little revived. But 
they had renewed attacks of sickness, and their 
" common house " was burnt down. The ship 
would have left them, but for the enfeebled condition 
of the crew. 

The captain, on the 5ih of April, 1621, gave the 
command to return. The testing time was come, 
and the little colony of Plymouth stood firm. The 
church in the wilderness was formed, and not a man 
returned. 

" Oh, strong hearts and true ! not one went back in the Mayflower ; 
No, not one looked back who had set his hand to the plougliing ! 
Soon were heard on board the shouts and songs of the sailors, 
Heaving the windlass round, and hoisting the ponderous anchor. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 273 

Then the yards were braced, and all sails set to the west Avind, 
Blowing steady and strong; and the Mayflower sailed from the 

harbor, 
Rounding the point of the Gurnet, and leaving fJir to the southward. 
Island and cape of sand, and the field of the First Encounter, 
Took the wind on her quarter, and stood for the open Atlantic, 
Borne on the scud of the sea, and the swelling heai-ts of the Pilgrims. 
Long in silence they watched the receding sai^ of the vessel 
Much endeared to them all, as something living and human ; 
Then, as if filled with the Spirit, and wrapt in a vision prophetic. 
Baring his hoary head, the excellent elder of Plymouth 
Said, ' Let us pray,' and they prayed, and thanked the Lord and 

took courage. 
Mournfully sobbed the waves at the base of the rock, and above them 
Bowed and whispered the wheat on the hill of death ; and their 

kindred 
Seemed to awake in their graves, and to join in the prayer they 

uttered. 
Sun-illumined and white, on the eastern verge of the ocean, 
Gleamed the departing sail, like a marble slab in a graveyard ; 
Buried beneath it lay all hope of escaping." 

It is beyond our present to trace the subsequent 
growth of the colony, notwithstanding the desertion 
of two thirds of the merchant adventurers, and their 
manifold vicissitudes and privations. 

It remains for some other hand to trace the devel- 
opment of their principles in both hemispheres. For 
ten years they stood alone as the sentinels and 
pioneers of freedom in New England, reinforced in 
a few years by several brethren of a kindred spirit 
from the church at South wark. 



274 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

The testimony is borne by Captain John Smith, 
that they were the first to form a permanent and 
growing colony. Their success prepared the way 
for the larger colony of Massachusetts, and for all 
that followed. 

A most extraordinary suggestion was made by 
one of the orators, on the day of laying the founda- 
tion stone of the monument at Plymouth, that a 
similar stone of memorial should be raised at James- 
town, in Virginia, in commemoration of the contem- 
porary founders of a colony. If it were intended to 
record an admonitory inscription on such pillar of 
witness, the design might not be without utility, for 
the contrast between Plymouth Rock and Jamestown 
is striking and complete. 

One of the gifted descendants of Governor Win- 
throp* has exhibited the difference between them in 
terms equally just and forcible. 

" With the single exception that both emigrated 
from England, the colonies of Jamestown and 
Plymouth had nothing in common, and, to all out- 
ward appearances, the former enjoyed every advan- 
tage. The two companies, as it happened, though 
so long an interval elapsed between their reaching 
America, left their native land within about a year 
of each other ; but under what widely different 

^ Hon. R. C. Wiuthrop, President of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society. 



THE HIDDEN CHUECH. 275 

circumstances did they embark. The former set 
sail from the port of Ihe metropolis, in a squadron 
of three vessels, under an experienced commander, 
under the patronage of a wealthy and powerful 
corporation, and with an ample patent from the 
crown. The latter betook themselves to their soli- 
tary bark, by stealth, under cover of the night, and, 
from a bleak and desert heath in Lincolnshire, while 
a band of armed horsemen, rushing down upon 
them before the embarkation was completed, made 
prisoners of all who were not already on board, and 
condemned husbands and wives, and parents and 
children to a hopeless separation. Nor did their 
respective arrivals on the American shores, though 
divided by a period of thirteen years, present a less 
signal contrast. The Virginia colony entered the 
harbor of Jamestown about the middle of May ; and 
never could that lovely queen of spring have seemed 
lovelier, than when she put on her flowery kirtle and 
her wreath of clusters, to welcome those admiring 
strangers to the enjoymqnt of her luxuriant vegeta- 
tion. There were no May flowers for the Pilgrims, \y 
save the name written, as in mockery, on the stern 
of their treacherous ship. They entered the harbor 
of Plymouth on the shortest day in the year, in this 
last quarter of December : and when could the rigid 
winter-king have looked more repulsive, than when, 
shrouded with snow and crowned with ice, he 



276 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

admitted those shivering wanderers within the realms 
of his dreary domination ? 

" But mark the sequel. From a soil teeming 
with every variety of production for food, for fra- 
grance, for beauty, for profit, the Jamestown colonists 
reaped only disappointment, discord, wretchedness. 

" Having failed in the great object of their adven- 
ture — the discovery of gold — they soon grew 
weary of their condition, and, within three years 
after their arrival, are found on the point of abandon- 
ing the country. Indeed, they are already embarked, 
one and all, with this intent, and are ah'eady at the 
mouth of the river, when, falling in with new hands 
and fresh supplies, which have been sent to their 
relief, they are induced to return once more to their 
deserted village. 

" But even up to the very year in which the 
Pilgrims landed, ten years after this renewal of 
their designs, they ^ had hardly become settled in 
their minds,' had hardly abandoned the purpose of 
ultimately returning to England. And their condi- 
tion may be illustrated by the fact, that in 1619, and 
again in 1621, cargoes of young women (a commod- 
ity of which there was scarcely a sample in the 
whole plantation, and would to God, that all the 
traffic in human flesh on the Virginia coast, even at 
this early period had been as innocent in itself and 
beneficial in its results) were sent out by the corpo- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 277 

poration in London, and sold to the planters for 
wives, at from one hundred and twenty to one hun- 
dred and fifty pounds of tobacco apiece ! 

" Nor was the political condition of the Jamestown 
colony much in advance of its social state. The 
charter, under which they came out, contained not a v 
single element of popular liberty, and secured not a 
single right or franchise to those who lived under it. 
And, though a gleam of freedom seemed to dawn 
upon them in 1619, when they instituted a colonial ^ 
assembly, and introduced the representative system 
for the first time into the New World, the precarious 
character of their popular institutions, and the 
slender foundation of their popular Uberties at a 
much later period, even as far down as 1671, may 
be understood from that extraordinary declaration 
of Sir William Berkely, then Governor of Virginia, 
to the Lords commissioners : ' I thank God, there 
are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall 
not have these hundred years ! for learning has 
brought disobedience, and heresy and sects into the 
world ; and printing has divulged them, and libels 
against the best government. God keep us from 
both.' 

" But how was it with the Pilgrims ? From a 
soil of comparative barrenness they gathered a rich ^ 
harvest of contentment, harmony, and happiness. 
Coming to it for no purpose of commerce'or adven- ' 

24 



278 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

ture, they found all that ihey sought — religious 
freedom — and that made the wilderness to them 
like Eden, and the desert as the garden of the Lord. 
" Of quitting it, from the very hour of their 
arrival, they seem never once to have entertained, 
or even conceived, a thought. The first foot that 
leaped gently, but fearlessly, on Plymouth Rock, was 
a pledge that there would be no retreating, — tradi- 
tion tells us, that it was the foot of Mary Chilton. 
They have brought their wives and their little ones 
with them, and what other assurance could they 
give that they have come to their liome ? And 
accordingly they proceed at once to invest it with 
all the attributes of home, and to make it a free and 
happy home. 

" The compact of their own adoption under which 
they landed, remained the sole guide of their gov- 
ernment for nine years, and though it was then 
"^ superseded by a charter from the corporation within 
whose limits they had fallen, it was a charter of a 
liberal and comprehensive character, and under its 
provisions they continued to lay broad and deep the 
foundations of civil freedom. 

" But," continues Mr. Winthrop, " the Virginia 
type was not complete, when it first appeared on 

the coast of Jamestown The year 1620 was 

unquestionably the great epoch of American desti- 
nies. Within its latter half were included the two 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 279 

events which have exercised incomparably the most 
controlling influence on the character and fortunes 
of our country. At the very time the MayfloM^er, 
with its precious burden, was engaged in its perilous 
voyage to Plymouth, another ship, far otherwise i-^ 
laden, was approaching the harbor of Virginia. It 
was a Dutch man-of-war, and its cargo consisted -^ 
of twenty slaves^ M^hich were subjected to slavery on 
their arrival, and with which the foundations of 
domestic slavery in North America were laid. 

" I see those two fate-freighted vessels, laboring 
under the divided destinies of the same nation, and 
striving against the billows of the same sea, like 
the principles of good and evil advancing side by 
side on the same great ocean of life. I hear from 
the one the sighs of wretchedness, the groans of 
despair, the curses and clankings of struggling cap- 
tivity, sounding and swelling on the same gale, 
which bears only from the other the pleasant voices 
of prayer and praise, the cheerful melody of content- 
ment and happiness, the glad, the glorious anthem 
of the free." 

The contrast between Plymouth and Jamestown 
might be illustrated by other facts and incidents, 
but we will not add to the eloquent words of this 
gifted New Englander, to whom the honor properly 
belongs of defending the honor of the Pilgrims. 

Our object throughout, in the historical sketch 



280 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

now coming to a close, has been rather to show the 
course of the Pilgrhns and of their precursors, in 
their character as "witnesses." We are reminded, 
by their early trials and by their distinct separation 
as a people, as well as in their subsequent wander- 
ings and vicissitudes, of the history of God's ancient 
witnessing people. The truth, destined for universal 
diffusion for ages, was " kept secret," intrusted to 
the care of a people few in number, almost un- 
known, or known only to be despised, but the 
time for its manifestation came in the unfailing 
purpose of Him who seeth the end from the begin- 
ning. 

The martyrs of Southwark were strongly 
impressed with the conviction that the truth " made 
known to them," was to be held by them in trust, 
not only for the people of their own time, but also 
for coming generations. 

In the lowest extremity of weakness and of trial, 
in the cell, and when standing on the gibbet, they 
made their appeal to posterity. For a moment 
they seem never to have lost confidence in the ulti- 
mate triumph of their principles. We have seen, in 
the review of their course, how closely the Pilgrims 
followed the footsteps of the martyrs. 

Amidst their cares in Holland, they did not forget 
their obligations as stewards of the manifold grace 
of God, in relation to the truth they had received. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 281 

They might have contented themselves with the 
formalities of worship, without continuing the discus- 
sion of their views of church government. It is 
possible that, by the prudential reserve recommended 
to them by Junius, their exile mighf have afforded 
opportunities for the acquisition of wealth, and that 
when the agitation of the original controversy, had 
passed from memory, they might have quietly 
returned to their own land. But they did not 
" keep silence." Not that they kept up an unrea- 
soning clamor, for their testimony was as remarkable 
for its clearness and strength as for its persistence. 
The argument, conducted by Robinson at Leyden, 
with so much calmness and force against opponents 
of every order, shows the fulness of their conviction. 

After their landing at Plymouth, it might have 
been supposed that in the rigors of the winter, their 
constant exposure to the Indians, and the incessant 
toil necessary to provide for themselves accommoda- 
tions, and to meet their heavy payments to the 
adventurers, their zeal for the maintenance of their 
principles would be abated. What scope, it might 
have been said, can they find for agitation within 
bounds so narrow, at such a distance from civiliza- 
tion, and without the use of the printing-press ? 

Whether ruined or successful colonists, the natu- 
ral expectation would be that they must be collapsed 
as congregationalists. The event proved otherwise. 

24* 



282 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

The labors of the Pilgrims were indeed severe, — they 
were wasted by sickness occasioned by bodily want 
and constant exposure, their graves were more 
numerous in the first winter than their dwellings ; 
nevertheless they kept continually in mind the ser- 
vice required of them in fidelity to the ti'uth. They 
found time, after returning from the toil of the day 
in the field or in the fishing-boats, to pursue their 
theological studies. In the Boston Athenaeum may 
be found a splendid folio copy of one of the Greek 
Fathers, inscribed with the name of William 
Brewster. The care with which it was preserved 
with the other volumes of his library, may indicate 
to us something of the intellectual habits of the 
Pilgrim leaders. Brewster was a layman, and had 
spent the greater part of his life in the service of 
the State, in various capacities, yet a glance at his 
collection of books will show the order of his mind. 
Here are the works of Beza, Musculus, Peter Mar- 
tyr, Erasmus, Calvin, Chrysostom, Piscator, Ste- 
phanus, Scultetus, Parens, and Molerinus. Besides 
Greek and Latin authors, we find the " master- 
pieces" of English theologians, with polemic works 
on the Reformation and Protestant nonconformity, 
church history, moral and political philosophy, and 
books of practical utility on general topics. The 
Pilgrims knew their ground, and they held it with 
intelligence and firmness never surpassed. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 283 

Governor Bradford, whilst occupied in recording 
the incidents of the eventful course, did not neglect 
to acquaint himself with their church principles. 
He took his full share in expounding them to the 
young people of the colony. Deacon Fuller was 
not less conversant with the truth for which they had 
suffered. The influence exerted by his example and 
conversation on the minds of the Puritan settlers, 
who followed the Pilgrims into the wilderness, we 
learn from the letter of Endicot, dated Namkeak, 
May 11, 1629 : " I acknowledge myself," he says, 
" much bound to you for your kind love and care in 
sending Mr. Fuller amongst us, and rejoice much 
that I am by him satisfied touching your judgment 
of the outward form of God's worship ; it is, as far 
as I can gather, no other than is warranted by the 
evidence of truth." 

The effect of the Pilgrim testimony was not con- 
fined within their own borders. The Puritan 
settlers, in writing to their brethren in England, had 
to speak uniformly of their candor and kindness. 
They held the truth firmly, but in the spirit of meek- 
ness and charity, and the impression produced was 
greatly enhanced by the combination. Historical 
investigation, when carried to the close of the 
seventeenth century, will show the constant progress 
of the " leaven " of their principles. Milton was not 
a stranger to the course of the Pilgrim Fathers. 



284 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

He was not insensible to the loss sustained by Eng- 
land from their expatriation. " What numbers," he 
said, " of faithful and free-born Englishmen and 
^ good Christians have been constrained to forsake 
their dearest home, their friends and kindred, whom 
nothing, but the wide ocean and the savage deserts 
of America, could hide and shelter from the fury of 
the bishops. Oh, if we could but see the shape of 
our dear Mother England, as poets are wont to give 
a personal form to whom they please, how would 
she appear, think ye, but in a mourning weed, with 
ashes upon her head, and tears abundantly flowing 
from her eyes ; to behold so many of her children 
exposed at once, and thrust from things of dearest 
necessity, because their conscience could not assent 
to things which the bishops thought indifferent ? 

" Let the astrologers be dismayed at the porten- 
tous blaze of comets and impressions in the air, as 
foretelling troubles and changes to states ; I shall 
believe there cannot be a more ill-boding sign to a 
nation (God turn the omen from us!) than when 
the inhabitants, to avoid insufferable grievances at 
home, are enforced by heaps to leave their native 
country." 

The loss to England by the banishment of the 
best and most devoted of her sons, undoubtedly was 
great, and to this day it is felt in all her depend- 
encies, but it was a gain to humanity. 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 285 

The Pilgrims were saved by their catholicity of 
spirit, and by the expansiveness of their views and 
affections. They did not pine around the rock of 
Plymouth .in wTetchedness and discontent. They 
did not pour forth bitter complaints, or sigh out 
their strength in unavailing regrets. Though they 
were not mindful to return to the land of then birth, 
they did not cease to love it, and to desire its highest 
and lasting welfare. The unpublished dialogue, 
written by Governor Bradford, on " Popery, Episco- 
pacy, Presbyterianism, and Independency," affords 
important evidence of their noble and generous 
sentiments. We quote one or two passages for the 
sake of illustration : 

" For the fruits of the congregational discipline, 
say the ' ancient men ' to the ' young men,' as it 
hath been exercised amongst us, Mr. Cotton saith, 
though in much weakness, the Lord hath not left us 
without testimony from heaven. 

" First, in making these churches a little sanctuary 
to many thousands of his servants, who fled over 
hither to avoid the unsupportable pressures of their 
consciences by the episcopal tyranny. Secondly, in 
blessing the ministry of our preaching here with 
like fruits of conversion, as in our native country, of 
sundry both elder and younger persons who came 
over hither, not out of conscience, but out of respect 
to friends or outward enlargements, but have here 



286 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

found that grace which they sought not after 

Fourthly, it hath been also a testimony from heaven 
of God's blessing upon our way, that many thou- 
sands in England, in all quarters of the kingdom, 
have been awakened to consider the causes of 
church discipline, for which we have suffered this 
hazardous and voluntary banishment into this 
remote wilderness, and have therefore by letters 
conferred with us about it. 

" Of their love and loyalty, see what Mr. Barton 
writeth and affirmeth against Mr. Prynne : ^ We 
dare,' saith he, ' challenge the world in point of 
fidelity to the state and our native country. Who 
do pray more frequently for them ? So that herein 
you cannot say, we are Independents. 

" ' As for want of love, and that of the best kind, 
to the public cause and that state, we are ready 
to help and serve it with our best abilities. And 
for true charitableness, brother,' saith he, ' Where 
is it to be found if not in those churches you call 
Independent ? But you say that our love is among 
ourselves (and God grant it may ever be so), yet it 
ends not there, but extends to all. And, brother, for 
a close,' saith he, * I challenge you to show me one 
parochial congregation in England wherein there is, 
or can be, the like love one to another ; the like care 
one for another ; the like union and communion of 
members in one mystical body, in a sympathy of 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 287 

affections in such a fraternity as is described in 
Ps. cxxxiii., a lively type of a true church of Christ. 

"YOUNG MEN. 

" These are blessed fruits, and happy are those 
churches in which they may be found and wherein 
they continue and abide. These are of the Lord's 
planting, and are not to be found in every garden. 
The Lord purge and prune his churches, and water 
them with the dew of heaven, that they may con- 
tinue to bring forth fruit unto Him, that we may 
enjoy a part in this blessing in our days. 

"ANCIENT MEN. 

" We have the rather noted these things that you 
may see the worth of these things, and not negli- 
gently lose what your fathers have obtained with 
so much hardship, but maintain these privileges, 
which not man, but the Lord Jesus the King of the 
church hath purchased for you. You see how, when 
they were lost in the former ages, both what evil 
and what misery followed thereupon, and how long, 
and with what difficulty it was before they could, in 
any purity, be recovered again. They were lost by 
sloth and security in the people, and by pride and 
ambition in the bishops and elders. But it hath 



288 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

cost much blood and sweat in the recovery, and will 
do no less care and pains in the keeping of them. 
It will require much prayer, zeal, holiness, humility, 
vigilancy and love, and peace, with a spirit of meek- 
ness, that liberty be not abused, and by pride and 
faction turned into Kcentiousness. ' Stand fast in 
the liberty,' saith the apostle, * wherein Christ hath 
made us free.' Ye have been called into liberty, 
only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 
but by love serve one another." 

The spectacle presented in the social condition 
of America in our own time, is one by which no 
thoughtful mind can be unimpressed. The germ 
of the evil, conveyed in the Dutch ship to Jamestown 
in 1620, has been developed in gigantic proportions. 
England long fostered its growth, until it became 
rank and prolific. The good seed sown in weakness, 
in obscurity, and with many tears, has also yielded 
abundant fruit. To speak without metaphor, the 
descendants of the Pilgrims have advanced, by suc- 
cessive migrations, in a fine extending from the 
Atlantic coast toward the shores of the Pacific. 
Their onv^ard course has excited little attention in 
comparison with the march of armies. A row of 
wagons, with a few oxen, driven slowly because 
of the mothers and the children, on their winding 
way to the distant settlement ; the sound of the axe 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 289 

in the first clearance, the curling smoke rising from 
the log cabins at the edge of the pine forest, or in 
the boundless prairie, these are the external signs of 
advancing civilization. They are followed by culti- 
vated fields, smiling villages, and populous cities, 
but the world knows little of the process by which 
the mighty change is produced. It is a fact, never- 
theless, at once grand and delightful, that before the 
sons of New England, holding fast the principles of 
their Pilgrim ancestry, slavery of every form con- 
stantly recedes, and that communities are called 
into existence, enjoying in the highest degree the 
blessings of order and of peace. Everywhere the 
church and the school-house mark the character of 
the settlement, and the spirit of the men by whom 
it is formed. 

Well is it understood by such men, that the gospel 
is the only guaranty for the security and freedom 
of the natives. They thoroughly comprehend that 
secular education alone can never give the self- 
control and the expansive social sympathies essential 
for the preservation of liberty. Hence their deep 
and growing concern for the evangelization of the 
mighty West. 

" No more," says Mr. Beecher, " shall the voice be 
heard saying, ' Go ye into all the world,' but the 
sound has never ceased to echo. Every groan of 
the slave is its echo ; every wail of sorrow is its 

25 



290 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

echo ; every petition from isle or idolatrous conti- 
nent, every revolution invokes you ; every uprising 
of man, struggling for the liberty of manhood and 
the equality of civilization is an invocation. But 
amid all these sounds there comes one louder, 
deeper, and more earnest. Is it the wind that comes 
to our ears sighing across the prairie ? It is the 
voice of our kindred that dwell there. Is that the 
roar of the forest, or the breaking of the lakes upon 
the shore ? It is the sound of the multitudes, loud 
as many waters or as mighty thunderings. It roUs 
from the vast basin of the Mississippi, along the far 
travelling Missouri, and from the mountains whose 
snows it drinks, and over them from the shores of 
the Oregon. It is the Pacific calling to the Atlantic, 
deep calling unto deep. The multitudinous dwellers 
between those shores are our kindred. We taught 
them to speak. For us they yearn at eventide. For 
us they sigh when fever-scorched, and turning to the 
the East, with devotion fonder than the oriental, 
they call for father and mother ! names, in this land, 
next in love and sanctity to the name of God. 
When that solemn invocation falls upon the East 
without answer, her days will be numbered. But it 
shall not be unheeded. O thou mighty West, I 
who have known and loved thee, cry back again 
our whole-souled sympathy ! For thee we wiU 
pray, for thee shall go forth our institutions. Unto 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 291 

thee shall go forth our sons and our daughters. 
Thy destiny shall be our destiny. Thy glory our 
glory." 

Elevated as is the feeling and purpose expressed 
in these glowing words, those who have received in 
trust the principles for which our fathers suffered, 
must ascend to a higher point, and their vision must 
extend to a wider horizon. The prairies are vast, 
but our field is the world. 

It is time to renew the testimony of the Pilgrims, — 
the testimony for purity of communion, the equality 
of Christian brethren, and freedom of worship. The 
best hopes of humanity are bound up in these 
principles. Ignorance of them has been the occa- 
sion of oppression, conflict, and suffering for ages. 

The stability and moral force, existing in the 
Anglo - Saxon race of both hemispheres, may be 
attributed mainly to the character formed directly 
or indirectly by these principles. The position 
occupied by the two countries is one of powerful 
influence. There is no need to institute invidious 
comparisons as to. the extent of that influence. But 
it may be observed that the younger branch of \he 
family has sent forth its missionaries to the primal 
seats of civilization. The descendants of the Pil- 
grims are building up the old waste places, the ruins 
of many generations in the regions of Tyre, Nineveh, 
and Babylon. They are lighting again the lamps 



292 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

of the seven churches, and they are the more wel- 
come in those eastern lands, because they are not 
entangled in the political relations of the Old World. 

But there is an opportunity for the friends of truth 
and freedom, in England and America, to unite in 
the reiteration of their testimony. 

The difficulties in the way of this combined action 
are not to be overlooked. The proposal to erect a 
Pillar of Witness in Southwark, was not hailed in 
the old country with enthusiasm. There were some 
who, instead of bringing a stone to the wall as the 
tribute of gratitude, would prefer to cast a stone at 
the builders. It must be admitted, however reluc- 
tantly, that many who from habit, parental example, 
and early associations, are connected with noncon- 
formist churches in England, have little or no 
acquaintance with the history of their origin, or of 
the influence exerted by them. 

How can we expect ardor in an object which is 
not understood ? 

The attempt to secure, in the place where our 
martyrs suffered, a spot of ground where American 
brethren might stand in England as firmly as on 
Plymouth Rock, did not commend itself to all. 
There are some who would rather keep alive the 
" old hatred " and increase the estrangement. The 
erection of a memorial building, in which the 
descendants of the Pilgrims might meet in love and 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 293 

peace beneath the same roof, was not an object to 
find favor with such persons. From such causes 
the work has been hindered, and after the care, 
anxiety, and toil of nine years, on the part of a few 
people in Southwark, the building remains to-day 
as a fragment. 

In the tenth year of their sojourn at Plymouth, 
the Pilgrims hailed the arrival of the leaders of the 
Massachusetts colony. They stood firmly at their 
post until the succor came, which secured the posses- 
sion of the American continent. Will the tenth 
year of our patient toil in Southwark, witness the 
reinforcement that will determine successfully the 
issue we have sought so long ? 

Nine years ago the Hon. Abbott Lawrence 
addressed to the pastor of the church of the Pilgrim 
Fathers in Southwark, the following deeply inter- 
esting letter ; 

"138 Piccadilly, London, 22d April, 1851. 

" Dear Sir, — I have read with much pleasure 
the papers you were kind enough to send me, 
respecting the efforts you are now making to erect 
a Congregational church to the memory of the 
Pilgrim Fathers. In common with most of my 
countrymen, I entertain the most profound and 
sincere reverence for the memory of the band of 
heroic Christians, who, in the face, in the Old World, 

25* 



294 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

of neglect, if not of oppression, and, in the New, of 
terrific trials, of countless dangers, of death from 
cold, from starvation, and from a treacherous foe, 
founded a Christian colony, which has now grown 
into one of the great nations of the earth. If that 
nation has proved to the world that religious free- 
dom and religious faith may flourish together, or 
that perfect liberty and perfect law are not incom- 
patible, I attribute it, in no slight degree, to the 
deep and permanent influence which the principles 
of Brewster and Robinson, Carver and Bradford, 
and their little commonwealth, have had upon its 
character. 

" It seems superfluous to speak of this little com- 
munity of men and women [noble women, too), 
which has now become one of the admirations of 
the world, and which gathered within its ranks as 
great, I believe, if not a greater, an amount of Chris- 
tian faith, fortitude, endurance, and hope, than was 
ever found of equal numbers on earth. The ' Rock 
of Plymouth,' where they finally made their home, 
has become our Mecca, to which we annually, on 
the wintry anniversary of their landing, make a 
pilgrimage, to renew our vows of fidelity to the 
principles of our forefathers, and offer up our thank- 
ful devotions to their and our God for the civil and 
religious liberty He has permitted us to inherit from 
them. Long may that rock remain, — a monument 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 295 

to teach my countrymen so to conduct the affairs 
of the present, that the future may not be unworthy 
of the past we have received. 

" The influence of their example is not confined 
to the land where it was displayed. Europe has 
begun to study their principles; and I think I see 
their influence increasing in this country. I am 
proud when I see efforts, like the present, to extend 
among the British people a just knowledge of these 
English men and women. You, too, may well be 
proud to be the pastor of a church where they 
preached and worshipped, and may appeal without 
fear to our brethren, both in England and throughout 
the world, to come forward and erect a church in 
commemoration of an event, the effects of which, 
already deeply felt, are destined probably to influ- 
ence the world more than any other in modern 
history. 

" With my most sincere wishes for your complete 
success in your interesting undertaking, I am, dear 
sir, very faithfully, your obedient servant, 

" Abbott Lawrence." 

No one better knew than Mr. Lawrence the 
nature of the obstacles to be overcome on English 
ground in such an undertaking. It was his purpose, 
on his return to America, to bring the subject prom- 
inently before the New England societies, but the 



296 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

changes of the time, and the event of his deeply- 
lamented death, prevented the fulfilment of his 
desio^n. 

The pen must be restrained in reference to matters 
of private interest, but, in the event of the ultimate 
accomplishment of the object, it should be known 
to all who are specially concerned, that but for the 
magnificent kindness of Mrs. Lawrence, the feeble 
hands into which the undertaking fell must have 
relinquished their grasp. From personal regard to 
the memory of the Pilgrims, and with relative sym- 
pathy, kindred with that of Lady Franklin in 
another object, Mrs. Lawrence gave the timely aid 
which prevented the defeat of a purpose rendered so 
sacred in her estimation, by the letter just quoted. 

There are signs that the facts connected with 
the advancement of the principles of the Pilgrims, in 
the land of their adoption, will command gi-eater 
attention in Europe. It is a significant circumstance 
that one of the first paintings, prepared to illustrate 
English history, for the Palace at Westminster, is 
that of the embarkation of the Pilgi'im Fathers. 
The selection of subjects was made by a committee 
of which Lord Macaulay was principal adviser. In 
deference to prejudice, likely to be excited by too 
bold a step, the title of the picture was for a long 
time withheld, and another designation given less 
startling to aristocratic observers. But now the 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 297 

true description is given, and the Pilgrim Fathers 
are as prominent in the British houses of Parliament 
as at the capitol of Washington. The British 
nation is being put under an educational process on 
the subject. Inquiry is excited, and, with patient 
perseverance for a few years, no one in England 
will again make the mistake of confounding the 
Pilgrim Fathers with the fathers of the Romish 
church. 

The form in which the testimony is given is one 
that rivets the attention of young persons, and 
awakens the finest sympathies. The story of mar- 
tyrdom, and of exile in connection with the founding 
of a vast and powerful nation, cannot be listened to 
and understood to be again forgotten. 

The remembrance of it for life lends a peculiar, 
though it may be, unconscious influence in the for- 
mation of character. Those who are associated 
with churches of the same faith and order, no longer 
confine their view to the particular society of which 
they are personally members. They think of their 
brethren in other lands, as laboring for the advance- 
ment of a cause, which events have shown to be 
identified with the freedom and stability of nations. 
It is a hopeful circumstance that both in England 
and in America there are men of high standing in 
society, who are alive to the importance of diffusing 
the knowledge of this remarkable history. 



298 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

A better acquaintance with the facts recorded in 
these pages, only a quarter of a century ago, would 
have saved English colonists in Australia, and in 
other parts of the globe, from serious hinderances and 
severe struggles which have too much retarded their 
progress. What, again, would be the advantage if 
the priest-ridden nations of Europe could once 
understand that religion is not intended to be an 
instrument in the hands of despots for the enslave- 
ment of mankind ? Wearied with the yoke of 
Rome, Italy knows not as yet how churches may be 
free, and that the " household of faith " may exist 
with as much safety to the state, as the domestic 
constitution. It is possible to communicate this 
knowledge in a manner that will at once instruct 
and delight. The materials are being collected, 
and, in the plain and unadorned narrative we have 
given, some facts may be found to add in their 
degi-ee to the common store. The genius and the 
eloquence of New England have always been tribu- 
tary to the work of diffusing this kind of knowledge. 
It is a satisfaction to be assured that, whatever may 
be the issue as to the completion of the memorial 
church at Southwark, every incident brought to 
light in these pages will become as famihar to the 
descendants of the Pilgrims as they are to the mind 
of the writer. They will form in part the text of 
the historian, the orator, and the poet. In the pleas- 



THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 299 

ant homes of the Northern States, the abodes of 
intelligence, of Christian virtue, and of sanctified 
affection, and in the far West, where the Sabbaths 
of New England are not forgotten, the names of 
Richard Fitz, Henry Barrowe, John Greenwood, 
John Penry, Francis Johnson, Henry Jacob, and John 
Smyth, will be linked with the precious memories 
of John Robinson, William Brewster, William 
Bradford, and the rest of the Pilgrim band. 

The time will come when, in England, it shall be 
known as familiarly, notwithstanding the haze of 
national vanity or prejudice, and the blending influ- 
ence of political contentions, that there are myriads, 
severed from us by the Atlantic, who speak our 
language, hold our faith, observe our simple form of 
Christian worship, and cherish the spirit of freedom 
in a degree not excelled by any order of men on the 
face of the world besides. 

Slowly this international and mutually fraternal 
acquaintance may be ripened. Many, who long to 
witness its happy results, may go down to the 
sepulchre, as " our friend " who sleeps in peace on 
Mount Auburn, before the dawn of that happy day. 
But every kind word, every generous act, every 
fervent prayer, will hasten the event. 

Would that Christians in England, and in partic- 
ular those of the Congi-egational order, could know, 
as does the writer of these lines, how amiable, how 



300 THE HIDDEN CHURCH. 

zealous, how affectionate and devout, are their trans- 
atlantic brethren in circles apart from the tumult 
and distraction of public life. It would enrich the 
memory of the heart, and give them new and more 
delightful anticipations of the heavenly state. They 
would be refreshed and animated by the continual 
recurrence of scenes and incidents, both of the home 
and of the sanctuary, the most grateful; and en- 
tertain, in consequence, firmer and brighter hopes for 
the whole race of man. But it is enough. The 
Great Peacemaker will reconcile all things in heaven 
and in earth. In Him all the families of the earth 
shall be blessed. A little longer, and the redeemed' 
of all nations shall meet in their final home. There 
shall be one fold and one shepherd. 



INDEX. 



AiNSWORTH, Henry, pastor of Amsterdam church 
America, early plans for settling . 
Amsterdam, Pilgrims form a church in 

divisions in church at . 

oitler of worship in church at . 

Bacon, Lord, opinion of the Brownists 
Barrowe, Henry, visits Greenwood in prison 

flung into prison ..... 

writings of in prison .... 

examined by Andros and Hutchinson 

indicted for non-conformity . 

letter to " a countess," entire . 

proposes a conference with the bishops 

execution of ..... . 

Bellot, Scipio, airested for publishing . 

pleads for a conference .... 

dies in jjrison ..... 

Bernard, Riclmrd, forms an " inner church " 
BowLAND, Tliomas, deacon of first Separatist church 
Bradford, William, early life of . . . 

character (^ . 

tni published dialogue of, quoted 
" Brethren of the second separation," why so called 
Brewer, Thomas, pati'on of the Pilgrim printing-office 

imprisoned by the Leyden University 

trial of, for printing .... 

decides to go to England 

returns to Leyden, and again to England 

imprisoned and liberated 
26 



PAGE 

134 
109 
134 
163 
164 

184 
54 
56 
57 
66 
78 
78 
91 
95 
78 
93 
132 
161 
16 
142 
283 
285 
137 
167, 210 
212 
215 
221 
22G 
226 
(301) 



302 



INDEX. 



Brewster, William, receives the Scrooby church 

sketch of 

previously acquainted in Holland 
Pilgrim printer in Leyden 
attempts to arrest .... 
library of, in Boston Athenaeum . 

Brown, John, chaplain of Duchess of Suffolk 

Browne, Robert, definition of a chm'ch 

silenced ...... 

source of the name " Bro-\vnist " , 
apostasy of .... . 

Brownists, why the Separatists called . 



. 141 

142 

. 162 

162, 210 

. 211 



282 

. 27 

30 

. 32 

. 32, 41 

32,41, 68 

32, 243 



Buck, David, imprisoned, and discussion with Francis Johnson 125 



Canada, ancient boundaries of . 

Cape Cod, Pilgrims arrive at ... 

French attempts to settle . . . . 
Cartwright's controversy with Mrs. Stubbs 
Carver, John, delegate to the Virginia company 

deacon of the Leyden church 

elected first governor of the Pilgrims 
Church, first Separatist formed 

Robert Browne's definition of . 

"in the house " . 

formed at Rochford .... 

BaiTowc's and Greenwood's definition of 

formed in Amsterdam 

Robinson's Anew of . . . 

Arthur Hildersham's definition of 

Henry Jacob's definition of . 

formed in Southwark 
Churchman, Mrs. Mary, experience of . 
Clark's Island, the landing upon . 
Clerk, John, reason of arrest of 
Clifton, Ricliard, joins the Separatists 

first pastor of the Scrooby church 

retires to Holland .... 
Compact of the I'ilgrims in the Mayflower 
Conformity, mode of enforcing by Elizabeth 

by James I. 
extreme . 



114 
25.5 

258 

34 

201 

206 

260 

16 

30 

51 

52 

59 

134 

176 

186 

187 

188 

148 

269 

183 

139 

141 

163 

259 

3 

144 

183 



INDEX. 



303 



CoppiN, Robert, pilot of the Mayflower . 
Copping, John, arrested and executed 
CusHMAN, delegate to the Virginia company . 
negotiations of, for a patent 
agi eenient of, with the Merchant Adventurers 
Pilgrim protest against the agreement of . 
Eobinson's testimony to character of 
letter of, to Edward Southwark 
leaves the Mayflower at Plymouth, England 



265 
31 
201 
228 
234 
235 
235 
252 
254 



Deacons, the first of Southwark church 
Dennis William, a martyr 



73 
32 



Elizabeth, eftect of the accession of ... 

feelino-s at the death of Barrowe and Gi'eenwood 



3 

96 



First house l)uilt in Plymouth . 

Sabbath, spent on Clark's Island . 
Separatist church in England . 
first pastor of . 
members of 
FiTz, Richard, first Separatist pastor 

death of, in prison .... 
Fuller, deacon of Leyden church, influence of 



271 
269 
16 
16 
19 
16 
78 
283 



Gainsboro church in two bands 
Greenwood, John, first mention of 

imprisoned 

interview with Barrowe 

writings of .... . 

conference of, with Hutchinson 

chosen teacher of Southwark church 

execution of .... 

Elizabeth's opinion of . . . 
Grindal's letter to Cecil 

to Bui linger 

Hampton Court conference 
HiLDERSHAM, the Puritan leader, imprisoned 
Hudson, Henry, voyages and discoveries of 



141 
.52 
54 
55 
57 
64 
72 
95 
96 
11 
14 

144 
186 
196 



304 



INDEX. 



Jacob, Hemy, discussion of, with Francis Johnson 

petition of, to King James 

imprisoned ..... 

withdraws to Holland . 

returns to England .... 

letter of, to Southwark church 

reorganizes the church in Southwark 

chosen pastor of " " 

character of .... . 

migrates to New England 

death and burial of, unknown . 
James I. raises the hopes of the Puritans 

proclaims conformity 

measures of, for enforcing conformity 

attempts of, to suppress the Holland Pilgrims 
Johnson, Francis, account of conversion of 

chosen pastor of Southwark church . 

letter of, to Lord Burghley . 

imprisoned ..... 

petition of his father for 

discussion of, with Henry Jacob 

banished to Xewfoundland 

pastor of church in Amsterdam 

petition of, to the king for a return to England 
Jones, master of the Mayflower 

thi-eats of, to the Pilgrims .... 



126 
143 
145 
146 
183 
185 

187, 190 
188 
190 
191 
191 
143 
144 
183 
193 
72 
73 
116 
117 
122 
125 
131 

134, 163 
182 
261 
261 



Lawrence, Hon. Abbott, letter of, to the Memorial church . 293 

Lay Independents, the early 13 

Letter of Abbot Lawrence to the author ..... 293 
AVclibishop Parker and Bishop Grindal to Cecil . 8, 1 1 
Attorney -General to the Lord Keeper ... 93 

BaiTO we to "a countess" . . . . . 78 

the bishops on visiting the imprisoned Separatists . 62 
Cushman to Edward Southwark .... 252 

to Robinson 236 

Dudley Carleton on the arrest of Brewster . 211-220 

Francis Johnson to Lord Burghley . . 116, 120 

Henry Jacob to the Bishop of London . .145 

to tlie Southwark church . . .185 
John Smyth to the Scrooby church . . . 142 



INDEX. 



305 



Letter of Penry to his wife . . . . ' . 

to the church ..... 
Phillips on the death of Barrowe and Greenwood 
the Pilgrims to Sir John Worstenholme 
Robinson and Brewster to Sir Edwin Sandys 
to Carver .... 
and Carver to the Pilgrims 
Thomas Lever to Bullinger . 
William Whittingham 

Wliite to Edward Deering 
Zouche to Carleton 
Lever, Thomas, letter of, to Bullinger . 
Leyden, migration of Pilgrims to . . . 

articles of clmrcli in, to Council of England 
Lord's Supper by the Soutliwark church 



98 
102 

95 
204 
206 
235 
248 
4 
6 

23 

222 

4 

166 

201 

74 



Martyrs, names of Separatist . . 
Mayflower, hired by Cushman 

Clark hired as pilot of . . • 
sailing of, from the Thames to Southampt 
Southampton . 
Dartmouth . 
Plymouth 
arrival of, at Cape Cod 
Plymouth 
retui'n of, to England . 
Memorial Church in Southwark 
progress of building a . 



13, 17, 31, 76, 95, 108 

237 

.238 

on . . 240 

. 251 

252 
. 254 

255 
. 271 

272 
. 191 

292 



Ordination of the first officers of the church 



71 



Pastor, how to be elected 

Patent, negotiations of Cancer and Cushman for , 

obtained from the Virginia company 

terms of, obtained from Virginia company useless 
Penry, John, sketch of 

letter of, to his wife ..... 

first suggests migration to America . 

execution of . 
Perkins, William, counsel of, to Robinson 



60 
228 
233 
234 
73 
98 
107 
108 
168 



306 



INDEX. 



Pilgrims, failure of first attempts of, to reach Holland 

imprisoned for attempts to flee 

separation of, from wives and children 

reasons of, for removing to Holland 

removal of, to Leyden .... 

occupation of, in Leyden 

debates of, on migrating to America 

negotiations of, w^ith the Vu'ginia company 

belonging to London .... 

appoint a fast ..... 

obtain a patent in the name of John Wincob 

slender means of . 

leave Leyden ..... 

debark from Delft Haven 

arrive at Southampton 

part of, separate for London, 

final departure of, from England 

first see Cape Cod 

compact of, signed .... 

exploring parties of . . . 

" First Encounter " of, ^\^th Indians 

first Sal)b;itli of, in New World 

land at Plymouth .... 

build their first house . . , , 

form a treaty with Massasoit 

contrasted with the Jamestown colony 

testimony to the character of 

present repute of, in England 
Puritans, distinguished from the Separatists 

first presbyteiy of, formed 

character and influence of 



. 156 

157 

. 158 

160, 193 

. 166 

167 
. 196 

201 
. 203 

208 

. 233 

238, 247 

. 244 

245 
. 216 

253 
. 254 

255 

. 259 

262, 263, 265 

. 267 

269 
. 270 

271 
. 272 

274 
. 283 

296 

38, 44 

45 

. 45 



Raleigh, Sir Walter, plans of, for colonizing America 
Roanoke Colony, sketch of .... 

Robinson, John, account of conversion of 

second pastor of Scrooby church . 

arrival of, in Leyden ..... 

place of residence of, in Leyden 

counsels of, to the Pilgrims .... 

opinion of the Leyden church 

feelings of, toward the church of England 



109 
110 
137 
141 
166 
167 
169 
172 
173 



INDEX. 



307 



EoBiNSON, John, Hoombeck's opinion of 

names of children of .... 

handwriting of, lost ..... 

Fast sermon of 

farewell sermon of, to the Pilgrims 

final letter of, to the Pilgrims at Southampton 

Rough, John, pastor of a chm'ch in London . 



178 
196 
203 
208 
244 
248 
13 



Sagadahoc Colony, failure of 
Samoset visits the Pilgrims at Plymouth 
Sandys, Sir Edwin, helper of the Pilgrims 
ScROOBY, situation of ... . 
church formed 

meet at Brewster's 
persecutions of 
Separatists, martyrdom of . 

Archbishop Grindal's description of 

names of, imprisoned 

first church of . 

why called Brownists 

wherein differed from Puritans 

weakness of . 

secret meetings of . . . 

plan for prison visitation of . 

at Southwark, choose chiu'ch officers 

deatli of, in prison 

fii'st petition of, to remove to America 

letters of, in prison, how written . 

first arrival of, in Amsterdam . 

discussions of, with Francis Junius 
Slavery first introduced into America 

English agency in fostering . 
Smyth, John, forms a society, or church 

intluonce of tlie writings of . 

discussion of, with Richard Bernard 

letter of, to the church in Scrooby 

pastor of church in Amsterdam 

peculiar views of . 
Southwark, church in, organized 

ofiicers of, chosen 
first communioTi of 



230 
272 
205, 228 
147 
. 141 
141 
. 147 
13 
14 
15 
16-19 
32, 41 
38, 44 
48 
49" 
62 
71 
76 
113 
117 
134 
135 
279 
288 
137 
17, 139, 140 
140 
142 
163 
164 
71 
72 
7^ 



308 



INDEX. 



SouTHWARK, church in, members of, arrested . . 75, 185 

deaths of members of .... 76,132 

reorganized . . . . . . 187 

Henry Jacob, pastor of . . . .188 

John Lothrop, pastor of . . . . 191 

attempts of, to build a " Memorial Church " 192 

members of, remove to Plymouth . . 273 

SouTHwoRTir, Edward, residence of .... . 203 

Speedwell sails from Delft Haven . . . . ^. . 245 

Southampton ..... 251 

puts into Dartmouth 252 

miserable condition of ...... . 253 

left at Plymouth 253 

Staresmore, Sabine, agent of the Pilgrims .... 204 

imprisoned ......... 207 

Thacker, Elias, airestcd and put to death .... 31 

Thorp, William, Brownist printer in Holland . . . 211 
Thursday prayer-meeting, observance of . . . .18 

Uniformity Act of Elizabeth 6 

remonstrances against 6 

methods of enforcing 8 

examinations under 10 

Virginia Company, failure of colonies of .... 230 

patent of, given to John Wiucob . . . 233 

Voluntary 'System, early practice of 6 

early doctrine of the 61 



Weston, agent, visits the Pilgrims at Southampton . . . 246 

White, William, examination of ..... . 20 

letter of, to Deering 23 

WiNCOB, John, holds the Plymouth patent .... 233 

Winthrop, Hon. K. C, on the Jamestown and Pljonouth 

colonies ......... 274 

Wright, Robert, invited to pastorate of Rochford church . 52 

imprisoned ......... 53 

subscription of ....... . 53 



